Rude Awakening: Original
by rjrouquette
Summary: Aelita has a secret that only her friends know. Her real name is not 'Aelita Stones' and she is neither Odd's cousin, nor is she from Canada. Everything has been normal for her over the past year, but due to some recent events, the government now knows.
1. Aelita Schaeffer

**Chapter 1:Aelita Schaeffer**

Beep! Beep! Beep! Mathis slammed his fist down on the snooze button, but the beeping refused to stop. Agitated, Mathis glanced over at the time on the clock. "4:37 AM," he muttered to himself and grabbed the source of his annoyance. Mathis flipped open the phone and mumbled,

"It's freaking 4:40 in the morning. Couldn't you have waited until I came in to the office."

"Sorry, Mathis, but unfortunately we don't have that luxury," responded the caller.

"So I've noticed. What 's the situation, Grégoire?"

"We just received a priority one alert. Seems a person of interest popped up on the grid. I'll give you the full story when you get here. You might want to hurry. The director wants everyone here five minutes ago."

"I get the picture. I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks."

Mathis, rolled out of bed and made his way to the closet. As he was dressing, he couldn't help but wonder what person could trigger a priority alert. All of the cases that his office had been assigned to monitor were cold cases. The only case that he could imagine warranting such a response would be Waldo Schaeffer, but he quickly pushed that thought aside. Schaeffer and his daughter had been missing for over ten years. Why would they suddenly slip up and appear now? It had to be one of the numerous other cases. Whatever it was, he figured that once they investigated further they would discover it to be just another false alarm. What he did know is that he find out when he got to the office.

* * *

Mathis ran through the atrium towards the elevators at the far side of the room, cursing the building architects for their poor planning. He was ten minutes late, and he knew the director would have a fit if he didn't hurry. He reached the elevators only to find that they were currently above above the 8th floor. Pondering his predicament, he reached the conclusion that running the six flights of stairs to his floor would be quicker. Two minutes and over two hundred steps later he burst into the office and glanced around for Grégoire. His worried expression faded when he noticed Grégoire standing on his desk issuing orders to the rest of the staff. Mathis navigated his way through the frenzy and playfully shoved Grégoire forward. Grégoire spun around and opened his mouth to issue a threat, but when he noticed that it was Mathis, he stopped, turned back to his original audience and sent them to carry out their assigned tasks. Grégoire stepped down and turned to faced Mathis.

"I guess the director isn't here yet?"

"Yeah, you got lucky Mathis."

"So what exactly is so important?"

"Do you remember the Schaeffer case?"

"Yes, but wasn't that over ten years ago?"

"It was, but now we have a new lead. Last month after the attempted subway bombings, the Prime Minister ordered that the records of all foreign citizens be re-examined."

"What does that have to do with Schaeffer? He was born here."

"Yes, he was. Just let me finish."

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, one of the records that the agency examined belonged to an Aelita Stones. Her record stated that she is a Canadian citizen who is currently studying at Kadic Academy. When the examiners attempted to verify her information with the Canadian authorities, they informed us that there is no 'Aelita Stones' in their records, deceased or otherwise. The agents entered their findings in to the system, and I got an alert at four o'clock this morning."

"So this could be the real thing. Does she even look like his daughter?"

"She has the same first name, same hair color, eye color. Davis is running a facial recognition as we speak."

"So after all these years, we finally have a substantial lead."

"Yes, but there is one slight concern. 'Aelita Stones' is only fifteen years old. If she were really Schaeffer's daughter she should be almost twenty-five."

"Considering the technology that Schaeffer worked with at project Carthage, I wouldn't be surprised if this 'Aelita Stones' is indeed our missing scientist's daughter."

"I know what you mean, and that's why I'm sending you to pick her up."

"'Pick her up?' Don't you mean 'apprehend and return for questioning?'"

"You know what I mean. Just make certain that no-one knows that we are involved."

"Should I retrieve any of her personal belongings?"

"If she has a computer take the hard-drive, but other than that don't worry about it. We want to leave as few clues as possible. Take one of the BMW's, it'll look less suspicious. If you leave now, you should b e able to catch her while she and the rest of the city are still asleep."

"I'll call you as soon as I have her."

"I'll see you when you get back."

* * *

As Mathis pulled up to the Kadic gates, he could only help but wonder how her tuition had been paid for the past two years that she was enrolled. He pushed the thought aside and approached the gates. Finding the gates locked and a "guard" sleeping in the little hut on the other side, he began walking the perimeter while searching for alternatives, and removed the PDA from his pocket. As he circled the school he pulled up a map on the PDA containing the layout of the school as well as the subterranean passages that crisscrossed the campus. He quickly noted that a sewer line ran under the fence about fifty yards from his current position and that the sewer also had an access in the woods next to the school. Deciding that this tunnel would be perfect for his needs, he doubled back to the car and parked it ten feet from the sewer entrance. As he removed the cover and climbed down into the darkness, he couldn't help but wonder if any of the students had used this passage before him in attempts to sneak out of the school.


	2. Missing

**Chapter 2:Missing**

Mathis cautiously slid the cover off to the side and peered around. Once he was satisfied that no witnesses were present, he climbed out and replaced the lid. He glanced at the thermal satellite image on his PDA, looking for any mischievous students, or patrolling staff. Seeing that his path was clear for the moment he proceeded towards the dormitory, at quick but silent pace. Her school records had indicated that her room was on the south of third floor six doors down from the stairway that he was currently climbing. He located her door and tested the handle taking special care not to make any sound. He was surprised that Grégoire had asked him to handle his assignment; in fact he was glad. He was the only agent in their office with five years of deep cover experience. To put it simply, he was overqualified. He picked the lock without incident and slowly swung the door open. If he hadn't read her file, he never would have suspected that this room belonged to a fugitive. One word described the room, and it's occupant: pink. He made his way toward the bed and withdrew a small cloth and a bottle. He applied the chloroform, returned the bottle to it's pocket, and in one swift and well practiced maneuver he grab the back of her head and pressed the cloth over her nose and mouth. Her eyes shot open, and she struggled for a few seconds before falling unconscious. Now that she was subdued, he made his way to her desktop and removed the cover. He quickly disconnected the power supply and removed the hard-drive. He placed the drive in a protective case and reassembled the computer in place of the original drive he connected a replacement, so that a preliminary inspection would not raise suspicion. He grabbed her room key off of the desk, and as he turned to grab the girl and leave, he noticed a pink laptop bag leaning against the closet door. He walked over and slung the bag over his shoulder. He then returned to the bed, and moved the unconscious girl onto the floor. He then made her bed, and placed the doll that she had been holding on top of the sheets. When he was satisfied that the room looked innocently tidy, he lifted the girl up, and walked back into the hallway. He closed the door and used the the key he had found on her desk to set the lock. He was glad that he had noticed the laptop, it's absence it would make her disappearance seem as though it had occurred out side of the dorms. It may also contain information that was not on her desktop computer's hard-drive. As he opened the stairwell door he heard footsteps approaching from below, quickly he turned and sprinted toward the opposite stairwell, and disappeared inside just as a man wearing a red jacket opened the door Mathis had just fled and began his last pass of the morning. Mathis dashed across the courtyard, racing against the approaching dawn. Mathis glanced up and quickened his pace when he saw that the previously black horizon now had an ominous red hue. Dawn was only a few minutes away, and he needed to be gone before the cover of darkness that had aided his mission vanished in the brilliance of the morning sun. He reached the manhole, and lowered the girl to the ground. He removed the cover and climbed down to his waist and lifted his captive on his shoulder an began his descent. He placed at the bottom of the ladder, and returned the lid to it's original resting place. He scooped the girl up and proceeded toward the car.

* * *

Jeremie stared at his breakfast. Aelita was over an hour late for breakfast, and the cafeteria was now empty except for the little group that sat around him.

"Are you okay, Jeremie? You haven't touched your food.", asked Ulrich.

"I'm fine. I'm just concerned about Aelita. She usually doesn't miss breakfast.", replied Jeremie.

"Well since you're obviously not going to..."

"Yes, Odd. you can have it." Jeremie shoved his tray at Odd, and stood up. "I'm going to check on Aelita," Jeremie said as he walked towards the dorm.

"Wow, Odd. Way to care," Yumi, commented once Jeremie was out of hearing. "I mean she is your cousin, after all."

"I call it 'though love'," Odd retorted as he started devouring Jeremie's cold breakfast. "Besides, if something is wrong wouldn't she rather talk to him."

* * *

Jeremie knocked on the door in front of him. When he received no answer, he went to open the door, but found that it was locked. He took out his phone and called her number. He heard the connection go through, but in addition to the expected ring that he heard through his phone, there was also a clear, unmistakable ring coming from inside the room. Her phone rang the full eight times and went to her voice. He hung up, and knocked on her door again, in an attempt to wake her up. When he received no response, not even a request to leave her alone. He picked the lock and opened the door, only to find an empty room. It wasn't the emptiness that bothered him; no, it was the pink cell phone lying on the floor half hidden under the bed that worried him, her laptop bag was missing, and the screen saver on her computer's monitor was not the one that she had proudly shown him the day before. He decided, though, that before he told the others he should check the Hermitage and the factory, just in case he was overreacting or misinterpreting the situation.

* * *

The lift in a long abandoned factory whirred to life, the door slid open, and a blond teenager stepped forward bearing a worried expression. He had spent the last two hours searching the Hermitage, the woods, and the factory, only to have his search end with no sight or even the slightest indication that Aelita had even been out of her room that day. His suspicions reinforced, Jeremie set off to inform his friends. "After all," he thought, "maybe I just missed her, and she's hanging with the others."


	3. Awake

**Chapter 3:Awake**

Her head. Why did her head hurt? Why was it so cold? Wait, that man. That wasn't a dream. Who was he? What did he do? Where was she? She opened her eyes and moved arms under her head, and closed her eyes again. She couldn't tell if her headache was from laying face down on the table, or if it was caused by what the man had used to subdue her. She heard the latch on door click open followed by footsteps, and a shadow falling across her eyelids. When she opened her eyes, she didn't recognize the man standing before her, but the man behind she recognized as the one who abducted her.

"So you're finally awake?" asked the new face.

She merely responded with a grunt.

"I'll take that as a yes. Do you know why you are here?"

She shook her head side to side slowly, her pain worsening with each movement.

"Oh really? Are you sure? You have to have some idea or thought about why you are here."

"No I don't, but you could please get me something for this headache?"

"Making demands are you? Maybe I'll get you something, but first you must co-operate."

"If I knew why I am here, maybe I could."

"OK, fine. Play innocent, 'Miss Stones', or should I say 'Miss Schaeffer'?"

"What did you say?"

"You heard me. We know who are Aelita. You're not from Canada. In fact you were born here in France to an Antea Hopper and a Waldo Franz Schaeffer in 1982. Your father was a researcher in project Carthage. Your mother disappeared when you were five. You and your father went into hiding and moved into the Hermitage. On June 6, 1994, Government agents raided the house, but your father and you escaped, and here we are over ten years later, but yet you seem to have physically skipped most of years you were in hiding. Very interesting."

"What do you want?"

"Ah, now you're starting understand. You tell us where your father is, and we might let you go. There are of course going to be certain conditions associated with your release, but first you have to tell us what need to know."

"What if I said you wouldn't believe me."

"Try me."

"My father is dead."

"If he's dead, then tell me who forged your most recent identity."

"One of friends did."

"A friend... This friend wouldn't happen to be Ulrich Stern?"

"How do you know the names of my friends?"

"Answer the question."

"No."

"Yumi Ishiyama?"

"No."

"Odd Della Robbia?"

"No."

"What about Jeremie Belpois?"

"You leave him out of this!"

"Well maybe he should have thought of the consequences before he started forging identities."

"You have no proof."

"He should have found a better hiding place than the hard-drive of his computer."

Aelita's eyes widened. "You searched his computer?"

"No but now we will, thanks for telling us where to look."

Aelita felt horrible. She had just gotten Jeremie involved. If only she had just kept her mouth shut. "What agency do you work for anyway?"

"I'm sorry but that information is classified."

"So is Project Carthage."

"And how would you know that? Did daddy teach his little girl to follow in his footsteps? Maybe that's why you haven't aged. You've spent the last ten years working with your father, completing his goal of stopping Carthage. That crazy old man actually got the quantum state scanners to work didn't he?"

"What are you talking about? From what he told me, Carthage was just a program to disrupt enemy communications."

"And you believed him. It's amazing how trusting children can be. Scrambling enemy communications was only a small part of the project. The end goal of the project was a system capable of moving entire armies across the internet to any location in matter of seconds. That was the goal of Carthage. It seems that we weren't the only ones that Schaeffer deceived."

"You're lying."

"He put you in one of those scanners didn't he?"

"Shut up!"

"We're done for now. By the way..." Grégoire tossed a pill bottle at her. "Here's two aspirins."

The two men exited the room, leaving the pink haired girl alone.

Once the door was closed, Mathis turned to Grégoire.

"She knows too much. We can't release her."

"I know that, but she doesn't. If she thinks that she has a way out, she'll take it."

"You don't believe that her father is dead, do you?"

"He might be, but I'm not convinced."

"What's the next step?"

"Grab the Belpois boy tonight. He's obviously involved in this somehow. We may even be able to use him as leverage to gain her co-operation."

"No-offense, but isn't it going to seem suspicious that two students have disappeared."

"Perhaps, but the local authorities will mostly blame the boy."

"I see where you're going. Alright, I'll grab him around the same time that I grabbed Aelita."

"Good plan. I'll see you tomorrow then, Mathis."

* * *

Odd couldn't help but smile as he watched Yumi sleep with her head leaning on Ulrich's shoulder. The two of them had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago, and Yumi quickly followed. What made the situation amusing in Odd's opinion was that Yumi had not fallen asleep on his shoulder. She had drifted to sleep leaning back against the tree, but had slid over onto his shoulder in her slumber. He was about to take a picture with his phone. When they both woke up and looked around behind the tree. Puzzled, Odd followed their example and found the last thing that he had expected. Jeremie was approaching them alone. When Jeremie didn't come back after breakfast, he just figured the he wanted to spend the day with Aelita, but now that Jeremie had returned empty handed with a worried look on his face Odd knew that something what was wrong. Before he could voice his concern Ulrich spoke up.

"Where's princess, Jeremie?"

"I... I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked Yumi.

"I went to her room, but she wasn't there. Her cell phone was there but her laptop was missing and her computer was... different."

"Well maybe she went to the Hermitage..." ventured Odd.

"I checked. I spent the last two hours searching the Hermitage, the woods, and the factory. I couldn't find her."

"I'm sure she's fine," replied Ulrich.

"I'm not so certain. I'm going to go see what the deal is with her computer."

Jeremie turned and walked towards the dorms.

"I wonder what his problem is." Yumi said.

"You mean what THEIR problem is. Both Jeremie and Aelita have been acting strange for the past month," Ulrich replied.

"Maybe Jeremie will tell us why when he returns," Odd offered.

"I hope so, it's really starting to bother me," whispered Yumi.

The three friends watched the boy genius as he reached the entrance to the dorms and disappeared from sight. One thing was certain, Odd realized, he had never seen Jeremie act like this before, even the times when Aelita's life hung in the balance, but this was different, and Odd could only wonder what had caused it.


	4. Point of No Return

**Chapter 4:Point of No Return**

Jeremie entered the vacant room, and surveyed the scene before him. Everything was exactly as it had been when he left earlier. The phone was still half-hidden under the bed, and the screen still displayed the same screen saver from before. He reached down and retrieved the pink cell phone. He turned the mobile off and placed it in his pocket as he walked towards her computer. He tapped the escape key, and a password prompt quickly replaced the animation. He entered the password she had given him the week before, but the computer rejected it. Puzzled, Jeremie attempted a few more possible combinations. After twenty failed attempts, Jeremie gave up and removed the case from the system. He carefully inspected the hardware inside the case, taking careful note of any parts that he had not added when he built the system for Aelita. He removed the hard-drive so he could determine if it had been modified, but was shocked when the hard-drive that he removed was not the one he and Aelita had chosen. The drive he held in his hand was unmistakably out of place. All of the other hardware in the system was two years old, but this drive. The hard-drive was brand-new. In fact this particular model had only become available for purchase less than one month ago. He now had his proof. Aelita didn't just disappear. She was taken, and her abductors appeared to be after some information she may have had. Jeremie went over to the bed, set Mr. Puck on the shelf, and tossed the sheets off the bed. He grabbed the hard-drive and walked out of the room, leaving the computer disassembled on the floor. He closed and locked the door, moved back against the opposite wall and smashed the door open. His task completed, Jeremie sprinted towards the stairs and down to his room. When he arrived in his room he set to work. He removed the drives from the three towers of his computer and placed them in his laptop bag along with the one that he had taken from Aelita's computer, and slung the strap across his shoulder. He tossed the sheets off his bed, and exited his room, breaking the lock using the same maneuver he had performed only a few minutes before on Aelita's door. Jeremie hastened towards the secret passage in the gym, he knew what he had to do, but he was not going to enlist the others. This was not their fight. It was his, and his alone. He reached the passage and disappeared inside.

* * *

Ulrich watched Odd devour his lunch with a disgusted expression on his face. When Jeremie and Aelita didn't shown up for lunch, Odd had conned Rosa into giving him their portions. Ulrich wasn't surprised that Odd could eat that much; it was, after all, a well known fact. What disgusted him, was the speed with which Odd devoured his food. He was about to tell Odd to slow down, when Sissi beat him to it.

"Odd, could you stop stuffing your face, and act human for a change."

Odd simply ignored her and continued shoveling his food. Sissi grabbed the tray and ripped it out his grasp.

"I said to stop."

Odd simply slid the tray back in front of him and continued where he had left off.

"You do know that he always eats like that, right?" asked Yumi, as Sissi took a seat.

"Yeah, but it never hurts to try. Where are Mr. and Mrs. Einstein?"

"Actually we don't know. We haven't seem Aelita all day, and the last time we saw Jeremie he was going to check on her," Ulrich answered.

"That's different."

"Tell us about it," Odd mumbled while swallowing the last bite of food on the tray.

"Delmas! Stern! Ishiyama! Della Robbia! Principal's office. Now!"

They all turned to find Jim standing in the entrance to the cafeteria and waiting for their response.

"Huh? But, why?" asked Ulrich.

"I said 'Now'!"

The four friends followed the man out of the cafeteria towards the administration building. As they walked each of them pondered why the principal would need to see them.

* * *

Aelita was sitting at the table resting her head on her folded arms. She couldn't tell how long she had been in the room, but it felt like an eternity. Just as she could feel her self drifting asleep, she heard the door opening and heard something soft land on the table as the door closed again, and the guard locked the door. She lifted her head to glance at her interrogator, but quickly saw that the room was empty again, except for the bundle of clothes that now sat on the edge of the table. Relieved that she finally had something to wear other than her night shirt, Aelita quickly dressed herself in the prison fatigues. She didn't care for the fluorescent orange, but, she reasoned, it was better than wearing almost nothing. She folded her night shirt and then lay down on top of the table and rested her head on her arms again. As she slowly drifted to sleep, she couldn't help but wonder what Jeremie was currently doing, if he was worried, or if he was in danger.

* * *

As Jeremie approached the end of the sewer passage he withdrew Aelita's phone along with his mobile. He removed the batter from each phone and tossed the items into his laptop bag, he withdrew his laptop and removed it's battery. He wasn't taking any unnecessary risks. The phones were easy to track, and the wifi card on his notebook might give away his position. He absolutely did not want anyone to know where he was. He climbed the ladder and sprinted into the factory. He reactivated the computer and checked the status of the "return to the past" mechanism. A window popped up stating that the RTTP was fully functional, but there were not any available return points. He had expected as much, but a small part of him had been hoping that he was wrong. Jeremie closed the window and started a search for the names "Aelita Stones", "Aelita Hopper", and "Aelita Schaeffer". While the name search was running, Jeremie open a new window and established a connection to the Department of Defense mainframe, he maneuvered through multiple firewalls and routers in search of of his query. He raised a triumphant fist in the air when the window displayed "Project Carthage." Jeremie began reading the classified document, and initiated a download of the document he needed when the name search returned with a hit on "Aelita Stones". He switched over to the result and his fears were confirmed. in front of him was a report stating that girl 'Aelita Stones' was using a fake student visa, and that there was no record of an "Aelita Stones" in the Canadian registry. He saved the window and opened the document he had previously downloaded. What he read astounded him. Franz Hopper had stated in his diary the Project Carthage was aimed at disabling enemy communications. As he read this document he began to realize that what Hopper had told them was a half truth. Yes, the first stage of the project was a system that could cripple enemy communications at will, but Franz had omitted the greatest part of the secret. Carthage would also be used to move armies across computer networks, convert raw materials into weapons, and turn an adversary's weapons against them. Now Jeremie understood why Franz had been so obsessed with destroying the Carthage project. Carthage would have eliminated all of the forces that currently stabilized the world. A war waged through the use of Carthage would have been too swift and decisive for any nation to mount any affective resistance. The name search popped up once more, and fortunately it had what Jeremie needed. On the screen was the address and location of the detention facility where Aelita was being held along with the cell block and number of her holding room. Jeremie dragged it off the side and continued his reading.

* * *

Jean-Pierre looked up from the folder on his desk as his door opened and Jim escorted four students in the room.

"Thank you for bringing them Jim."

"No problem sir,"

"Do the four of you know where Belpois and Stones are?"

"No, daddy. We were just beginning to wonder where they were ourselves," responded Sissi.

"Really. Well do you know why their rooms were broken into?" questioned Delmas.

"Wait. Their rooms were broken into?" asked Yumi.

"Yes, both of their doors where forced open and their computers were vandalized. Both Stones and Belpois are still unaccounted for." responded Jim.

"Do you know who did it?" asked Ulrich.

"No, we were wondering if you might know." replied Mr. Delmas.

"Sorry sir, but I can't think of anyone at school who disliked either of them that much," offered Odd.

"Very well. If you think of anything let us know. You may go now."

The four exited the room, and walked out to the courtyard.

"You guys don't think this could be related to the way Aelita and Jeremie having been acting lately do you?" asked Odd.

"I don't know, Odd. But whatever is going on, it's definitely not good," responded Ulrich.

* * *

SMACK! The sudden noise made Aelita jump to her feet. When her vision focused, she saw the men from her previous interrogation standing in front of her. The one that had questioned her before was holding a folder on the edge of the table, and his face displayed an amused grin.

"So I see you know some form of martial art," commented the mans partner.

She wasn't sure what he meant, but then she realized that she was in a fighting stance with her feet spread and her hands at the ready.

"Looks like a form of Pencak Silat. One of her friends must have taught her," continued the man.

Aelita relaxed, but she still wondered how they could figure all of that out just from observing her.

"Right. Well now that you're finished your nap. We have some more questions for you."

Aelita sighed and sat down in the chair. Maybe this time she might be able find out something useful.

"Where have you been hiding for the past ten years?" her interrogator started.

Aelita decided to just remain quiet.

"Alright, we'll come back to that one. What is XANA?"

Her eyes widened. How did they know about that?

"Isn't that a video game."

"Stop acting cute and answer my question."

"XANA was a multi-agent computer program that my father created to destroy Carthage."

"Good. Now we're getting somewhere, but you're still lying to me. Over a year ago, several supercomputers around the globe became infected with an unknown virus. Our researchers could not find a remedy, but they did manage to identify the virus as XANA, your father's creation. The virus didn't destroy anything, it merely took control of the systems from the operators. Several months later, one of systems went offline. When our field crew arrived on site they discovered that the computer had been sabotaged, and the virus was no longer present. Over the next few months similar events occurred at other facilities, until about a year ago. A new program swept across the web annihilating XANA and the software running on the systems. We never did find the culprits. When our programmers analyzed the code they found a mixture of Schaeffer's original code for XANA combined with new code that was created by another programmer. It seems that your father found himself an apprentice. Who is it? Was it you? Or was it your beau, Jeremie Belpois?"

"No, it was me, and I thought I told you to leave Jeremie out of this."

"I'm sorry, but I don't take orders from you. As for you friend, he should have thought about the consequences before he associated himself with a traitor and his daughter."

"My father is not a traitor; his country betrayed him first. You took my mother from me when I was five. What did you expect my father to do? Bow down and worship the ground you walked on, or fight back? He's already paid the price for his mistakes. Why are you making me pay for them as well?"

"So you still claim that your father is dead? We'll see what you say when your friend's life is on the table."

"You wouldn't."

"I already have."

The two men exited the room. Aelita didn't know how much more she could take. The two men knew how to manipulate her and she couldn't do a thing to stop them. They also seemed to enjoy tormenting her. She got out of her chair and lay down on the table once more, trying not to give in to the tears that were forming in her eyes. She mouthed, "I'm sorry, Jeremie," as she drifted into sleep once more.

* * *

Jeremie could not believe what he had just read. The paper he had found explained how to reconfigure the scanners to convert raw materials into fully functional equipment, and Jeremie didn't hesitate to test this new found knowledge. He opened a new window and began entering the code for what the document had described as an "antimatter powered directed energy weapon". When he thought about it, the sketch resembled the typical plasma rifle featured in most science-fiction films. What he liked most about the weapon is that the rifle had a non-lethal setting which would only render it's victim unconscious. Now that he had the code completed he just needed to find some scrap he could use for the process. Jeremie slid out of the chair and went to cannibalize some of the old machinery in factory. After a few minutes the boy set his finds in the center scanner and executed the program. What he found when the scanner opened was more than he had bargained for. There lay two rifles, two hand guns, and eight extra power packs. Maybe he stood a small chance after all. He removed the finished items from the scanner, and returned to the console. He figured that if he could make the appropriate modifications to the program, he might be able to manufacture some of the other equipment that he desperately needed.

* * *

Yumi had met Ulrich and Odd in the boy's room. At dinner they had decided to meet and discuss what they should do about their current situation.

"We should run an RTTP," offered Odd.

"Odd, we don't even know if that will help. Besides, we would have to turn the supercomputer back on, before we could attempt that," retorted Yumi.

"What if the supercomputer is already on?" questioned Ulrich.

"Jeremie would have noticed when he checked the factory for Aelita," noted Yumi, "We should probably check tomorrow after classes though, just in case."

"Fine, but what if the supercomputer isn't involved. What are we going to do then?" asked Odd.

"I don't think there's anything we could do, Odd," answered Ulrich.

"Alright, well I'll see you all tomorrow. My parents are probably not going to like me being late."

"Good luck, Yumi."

"Thanks, Ulrich."

* * *

A manhole cover in the woods slid open, and a man emerged in to the dark morning. Mathis surveyed the area and then broke into a sprint toward the dormitories. He noted that he was ahead of schedule this time, mostly thanks to his previous mission. He reached the dorms with no incidents and navigated his way to the boy's room, but when he exited the stairwell his level of alarm jumped. The door to his target's room was marked off with security tape. Mathis returned to the stairwell and proceeded towards the room of his previous victim. When he saw the security tape on her door as well, he decided that he had overstayed his welcome, and fled the scene. He couldn't understand what happened. He didn't leave any trace last time. Something else must have happened. He decided that for now the boy would have to wait. They could always pick him up later.

"Aelita would be impressed," Jeremie thought as he surveyed his accomplishment. In a little over fourteen hours, he had created two energy rifles, two energy pistols, sixteen power packs, 8 flash-bangs, two suits of full tactical body armer, two climbing kits, two backpacks, two light sleeping bags, one tent, a tactical PDA, two personal EM shields, four air-burst EMP bombs with a launcher, and two militarized overboards. Jeremie began dividing up the equipment and packing it into the two bags. He packed all of Aelita's equipment into one of the packs. When he had finished, he strapped her bag of equipment onto her overboard. He then put on his body armor, stuck his personal shield in his vest pocket, tucked the pistol into it's holster, and slung the rifle across his shoulder. He packed the rest of his equipment and moved his bag and the overboards into the elevator. He returned to the computer, and saved all his findings, he also verified Aelita's holding information. He definitely didn't want to infiltrate the wrong the base. Satisfied that the information was as accurate as possible he powered off the console. On his way to the elevator he grabbed everything that he had brought with him and dumped it next to the gear. He took the elevator down to power off the computer, but this time he didn't hesitate. He knew that if he left it on, the others would get involved and he didn't want that. He unceremoniously threw the lever down, and the tower sank into the floor, it's task completed. As he was riding the elevator up, Jeremie slung his laptop case over his shoulder like the rifle and put is pack on. He activated the two overboards, and set Aelita's board to follow his. When the door opened, Jeremie took off into the early dawn. It took him a few falls, collision, and near misses, but he finally adjusted to flying hi overboard. Jeremie located the path to the hermitage and veered towards his destination. Jeremie stepped off his board and ran up to Aelita's room. He opened her closet and deposited his laptop bag inside. He moved some of the stuff in the closet on top of the satchel, and when he was satisfied that the bag was not visible, he turned and left the neglected house. He moved the boards into the sewers and began the journey towards the holding facility. He pulled the PDA out of his pocket and pulled up a map of the sewer network. He quickly located a spot where he could pass the day, and launch his assault at night. He returned the PDA to his pocket and accelerated towards his destination. After five minutes of riding, he spotted the entrance to the abandoned bomb shelter less then one hundred meters a head. He slowed to stop in front of the shelter, withdrew his pistol, and shot the lock off. He slid the door back and guided the two boards in, shutting the door behind him. Tomorrow at 2:00 AM he would attack, but for now he needed to rest.


	5. Day Two

**Chapter 5:Day Two**

Mathis walked towards Grégoire's desk. Each step he took brought him closer to the conversation that he had been dreading the entire morning. Belpois was missing, and the school staff knew that Aelita had been kidnapped. When Mathis stopped in front of the desk, Grégoire looked up from a report that he was reading.

"We have a problem, Grégoire."

"I know, this police report just came in," he replied while handing the folder to Mathis, "So far it's just a case of vandalism, thankfully it isn't a missing persons case yet."

"It will be when the girl doesn't show up for her classes today."

"Yeah. Any luck with the boy?"

"No. His room was taped off as well, and there was no sign of him."

"Do you think someone warned him?"

"I'm not sure, but it's possible that Schaeffer may have found him first. That is if Schaeffer isn't dead."

"Are you sure you didn't leave any indications that she didn't just walk off and never return?"

Mathis thought for a second. He had taken the laptop bag, and the computer was reasonably inconspicuous, he even took her cell...

"Shit."

"What?"

"I didn't take her cell-phone. Someone must have found it, and realized what happened. They probably staged all of the stuff in the police report, so that all attention would be focused on the school."

"Great theory, but who did it?"

"Probably one of her friends."

"Must have been the Belpois boy, since he 'disappeared' as well."

"I'm not sure. His records give no indication that he has that kind of skill."

"Neither did the girl's, but you saw her yesterday. She jumped off the table and was prepared to fight both of us until she remembered where she was."

"I see your point. Perhaps we should ask her."

"Sure. Let me finish this status report, and I'll join you."

* * *

Yumi, Ulrich, and Sissi gawked as Odd sat down without a tray.

"Since when have you ever refused to eat breakfast, Odd?" asked Ulrich.

"I'm just not hungry. OK."

"You feel guilty because you were giving Jeremie a hard time yesterday?" questioned Yumi.

"Maybe."

"Quiet Down!" came the booming order from Jim Morales. He was standing behind the principal, and another man who was wearing a police uniform.

"Thank you, Jim. Yesterday, two students, Jeremie Belpois and Aelita Stones, went missing. Classes are canceled today, and the police will be conducting interviews. You are all expected to co-operate. Hopefully nothing serious has happened and this situation will be resolved quickly. That is all."

The principal and the police officer turned and exited the cafeteria. As soon as the door closed, whispers could be heard all across the room.

"This is not good," noted Sissi.

"I just hope they are alright."

"Don't worry, Odd. I'm sure they are," replied Ulrich.

"You sound too certain, Ulrich. What haven't you told us?" questioned Yumi.

"Why would I hide something from you?"

"Ulrich, just tell us," responded Odd.

"Fine. You remember how they started acting strange a month ago?"

They all nodded.

"Well a few days later they both asked me to teach then Pencak Silat. I told them they could just come to the class with the rest of us. They said they had asked me, because they didn't want anyone else to know, not even the rest of you. We decided that I would train them every night after class."

"So that's where you've been going every night, and every time you told me that you were training," Odd said.

"Well technically, I was training, Odd. I just wasn't training myself."

"Let me guess... They weren't very good," joked Sissi.

"Actually after the first week they were better than, you."

"That's not saying much," Odd joked, and Sissi answered him with an elbow in his ribs.

"Will you two stop. Anyway, I was beginning to teach them some more advanced moves last week. I'll admit that they are not experts, but they are fairly good. Aelita managed to pin me, and Jeremie actually knocked me out."

"Jeremie... knocked you out... as if," responded a doubtful Sissi.

"Wanna see the mark?" Ulrich retorted as he moved his hand toward his head.

"That's not necessary," replied Yumi. "We believe you. It's just hard to picture Jeremie and Aelita fighting like that."

"Any idea why they didn't want anyone to know?"

"No. I asked them, but they wouldn't explain. They just gave me some nonsense about being discreet."

"So they started acting weird and then a few days later they ask you to train them, I wonder what they were afraid of. Was there anything in the news then?" Yumi asked.

"Not that I remember," replied Sissi.

"That's when those attempted terrorist attacks occurred," Odd responded.

"How do you remember that?" asked Ulrich.

"I remember because it messed up all of the flights during the break."

"Oh yeah that's right. You got stuck at the airport for two days, because your flight got canceled." Ulrich snickered when he recalled the incident.

"It wasn't funny."

"Chill you two," Yumi interrupted. "Why would that bother them though?"

"Didn't the prime minister issue some kind of order after the attacks?" Sissi offered.

"Yeah, he ordered that the records for every foreigner be re-examined," replied Odd.

"Wait. That's it. That's what they were worried about." Yumi announced.

"Worried about what?"

"Odd, Aelita is your cousin from Canada, remember."

"Yeah, so. Oh... right."

"They were probably worried that something might be wrong with her papers, and she would get sent back," Sissi reasoned.

"Yeah and they probably wanted to learn self-defense in case some idiot tried to hurt her because she wasn't from around here," Yumi continued.

"But that doesn't explain what happened to them," Ulrich stated.

"No, but at least now we know why they were acting so strange," Odd concluded.

* * *

Aelita glanced up as the two agents entered the room, something was wrong. One of the men stayed in front of the door, and the other tossed a folder on the table, and turned to face the wall opposite her.

"What do you..."

"...want now?" the agent cut her off. "Who taught you Pencak Silat?"

"I never said that I knew..."

The agent lunged across the table to grab her, but Aelita caught his arm.

"You were saying..."

Aelita hung her head.

"You can't fool us. Yesterday when we startled you, you jumped off of the table and landed with your hands raised and your feet spread as if you were waiting for an attack. My associate here, recognized your form, poor though it maybe, as Pencak Silat; so don't sit there and pretend that you are some innocent little girl that couldn't hurt anyone. Someone trained you, and you will tell me who it was."

"My father taught me."

"I don't think he did. One of your friends taught you didn't they."

"No."

"Who was it?"

"I said they didn't."

"I know your lying. Just tell us who it was."

Her eyes lit up. So something was wrong after all. Why hadn't they tried using Jeremie to get her co-operation? They should have had him by now, unless...

"You couldn't find him. Could you?"

"What?"

"You couldn't locate Jeremie. That's why you're suddenly interested in who taught me martial arts. You couldn't get him, so you're going after the next best target."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Now who's lying? You don't have him; otherwise, you would have tried to use him as leverage."

"What if I'm just saving him for later."

"You're not very good at bluffing are you?"

"Neither are you. You're grasping at straws."

"At least I'm not the one losing control."

"Last time I checked. You're still locked in this room."

"We should finish this debate later," Mathis interjected. He leaned closer to Grégoire and whispered barely loud enough for Aelita to hear. "They're moving the boy now. The director needed us to supervise the exchange."

"Ah, so your staff is short handed. You might want to do something about that."

"We'll settle this later."

The two left the room, and she heard the distinctive click of the latch. She smiled. For the first time in what felt like days, she was smiling. Jeremie had evaded capture, and now they couldn't locate him. Her mistakes hadn't harmed him, and her captors had lost their biggest bargaining chip. Her mood fell again. If they couldn't get her to talk with threats alone, they would have to eventually carry through on their threats. "Well, at least Jeremie is fine," she thought.

* * *

The door to Jean-Pierre's office swung open, and a man with brown hair burst in.

"Where is my son?"

"We don't know sir. The police are investigating as we speak."

"Why wasn't I notified sooner? I've been told that he's been missing since yesterday. When were you going to let us know?"

"We called you as soon as we had alerted the police."

"Why didn't you call them when the broken doors were found?"

"We had to make sure that it wasn't a prank. Mr. Belpois, calm down. The police are handling the situation."

"Where are his friends?"

"The police are interviewing them as we speak."

"I want to speak with them."

"You may once the police are finished."

"Thank you."

Mr. Belpois turned and walked to the door. Jean-Pierre watched the man as he left. He couldn't really blame the man for his reaction; in fact, he would have been more surprised if the man had been calm and rational. He looked up just as Mr. Belpois had returned.

"When are Aelita's parents arriving?"

"I don't know, sir. We haven't been able to reach them."

"Thanks."

Mr. Delmas returned to the stack of papers on his desk. This was not his week.

* * *

"Do you guys think that we should have told Sissi the real reason why Aelita had to worry about the government examining her record?" Odd asked.

"Absolutely not." responded Ulrich. "You remember what happened the last time we shared a secret like that with her."

"He has a point, Odd." Yumi answered.

"I didn't think we should either. I just wanted your opinions too."

"Well thanks for asking. Hey isn't that Jeremie's dad?" asked Yumi.

"Uh oh. Looks like he wants to talk with us," Ulrich responded.

"Hey, kids. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd. Right?"

"Yes, sir," Yumi replied.

"Mind if ask you what's going on?"

"The police already questioned us, but I guess we don't have much of a choice. Do we?" replied Odd.

"Odd, be serious for once," Ulrich chided as he smacked Odd on the back of the head.

"Thanks. So what happened yesterday?"

"It started when Aelita missed breakfast yesterday...," Yumi began.

* * *

Mathis hurried into the conference room. Grégoire had called a meeting to discuss the current status of the investigation, and it looked like the meeting was not going to be a picnic.

"How hard is it to find a fifteen year old boy?"

Maybe that was an understatement.

"I mean honestly people. We have access to every security camera, every cell tower, every possible method of surveillance, but this kid continues to evade us. Jeremie Belpois is now your primary target. He forged the Schaeffer girl's new identity and faked his own disappearance. He knows something, and we must find out what he is hiding, and we need to do it as quickly as possible. You are all dismissed."

After the rest of the staff had filed out of the room, Mathis approached Grégoire.

"Sorry about screwing this up."

"It's not your fault, Mathis. I should have waited for more intel before I sent you to grab her."

"Don't worry about it too much. At least we have her."

"Yeah we do, but I didn't exactly handle the last interview very well."

"I wasn't expecting that reaction either, but at least now we know what direction we need to take in future sessions. By the way, that was a clever way to test her reflexes."

"Thanks. Let's just leave her there for now, and concentrate on finding the boy."

* * *

"... and we haven't seen either one of them since," Ulrich concluded.

Jeremie's father seemed to be deep in thought.

"Are you alright, sir?" Yumi asked.

"Yes. I was just going over what you told me, and now I'm even more confused. From what you told me Jeremie disappeared after Aelita, and he didn't see any clear signs that she had been abducted. The principal told me that both of their rooms were broken into, and I heard the police mention something about it looking like their rooms were raided. At first I thought that Jeremie may have been taken, but now I'm not sure anymore. I'm going to take a walk and try to clear my mind. I'll probably have some more questions later, but I'll leave you all alone for now."

With that Mr. Belpois left them and walked towards the forest.

"He's taking this pretty hard," Odd noted.

"Jeremie is his son, Odd. Of course he's taking it hard," Yumi replied.

"Um guys, we should probably go check the factory while we can still get off campus," Ulrich reminded them.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," Odd answered, as the three started walking towards the gym.

* * *

Michael glanced at his watch. It had been half an hour since he entered the park, but he still couldn't believe what was happening. Jeremie and his girlfriend were missing, and none of the people in charge of the situation appeared to know anything useful. What he didn't understand is why anyone would want take either one of them, much less both. It didn't make any sense. Why did it have to be his son? The account that Jeremie's friends had given him only confused him more. Aelita had apparently been taken first, and the kidnappers had been careful no to leave any trace, but when Jeremie went back to check her computer, the kidnappers took him also, and trashed both of the rooms. Why they have been so careless the second time. Had Jeremie surprised them? How had the kidnappers even gotten on to the campus in the first place, or gotten out with two kids? He needed to figure what was really going on. Michael stopped as he noticed that the dirt path he had been following ended at a gravel road. He looked up and was intrigued when he saw an abandoned house. He turned to continue his walk along the road when something on the fence caught his eye. He walked closer and recognized the word "Hermitage" painted on the moss and vine covered sign attached to the fence. Why did that sound familiar? Wait, now he remembered. He had overheard Jeremie and Aelita talking about a place they called the "Hermitage" when she was staying with them for the holidays. He entered the gate, and approached the front door. As got nearer he noted the broken windows, but was more intrigued by what appeared to be a new deadbolt on the front door. After he had half-heartedly attempted to open the door, Michael moved over to a window, slid the bottom pane up, and climbed through. When he glanced around the room, he was shocked to see that the floor had been swept recently, and there was no glass on the floor near the broken windows. As he wondered around the house, he saw that the condition of the house's exterior was nothing like the interior. Someone, most likely his son and his friends, had been slowly restoring the house.

Finished with his survey of the current floor, Michael decided to inspect the top floor. The top floor was in, more or less, the same condition as the previous floor. He entered the pink room at the end of the hall, but was puzzled when the room did not appear to have been touched. Books and toys still lay undisturbed on the floor. What looked like years of dust lay on top of everything, except for a picture frame laying next to the bed. Michael retrieved the frame, but what he saw in the picture alarmed him. An eight year old Aelita was standing next to what appeared to be a family member. Was it her father? What bothered him was that the date on the desk calendar read May 9, 1990. If that truly was Aelita, she should be in her twenties now. Micheal set the picture down, and turned to leave, but stopped when he noticed marks in the dust on the closet door. He opened the closet but wasn't surprised when he saw the pile of stuff on the floor. He froze. Was that a green shoulder strap sticking out of the pile? Michael pulled the strap and the bag attached to it out of pile. The bag seemed out of place. It was much newer than the other contents of the room, and it was very similar to, Jeremie's laptop case. No, it wasn't like his his son's laptop case, it was Jeremie's computer bag. He opened the bag to find his son's laptop and several computer drives. Realization suddenly dawned on him. Aelita had gone missing, and Jeremie staged his disappearance along with the break-ins to draw the attention of the police. At least now he knew why the information that the police gave him and the account from Jeremie's friends didn't match. The only remaining information that he needed now was what actually happened to Aelita and where his son had gone. He realized that he should definitely find his son next especially since Jeremie probably knew what had happened to Aelita. His watch dragged him out his thoughts, informing him that is was now six in the evening. Michael slung the bag over his shoulder and left a note for his son on top of the pile where he had found the bag. He left the house the same way he had entered, and began the trip towards his motel. He was actually glad that his wife was on a business trip, and he hadn't told her about Jeremie's disappearance. He knew how the situation was affecting him, and he didn't want her to have deal with the stress sooner than necessary.

* * *

Jeremie slammed his fist into his alarm clock but recoiled in surprise when his hand met with the cold concrete of the bomb shelter floor. Jeremie felt around for his glasses and grabbed the PDA. The screen displayed that the current time was 20:00 hours on Monday. Jeremie silenced the alarm and set the PDA back down. He climbed out of his sleeping bag and returned it to the backpack. Jeremie slung the pack on to his back and guided the tower overboards out of the bunker. Once he was outside, he shut the door, and checked the straps holding Aelita's pack to her board. He had less than six hours to get prepared for his assault, and he needed to gather some final supplies. Removing the PDA from his pocket, he called up a map of the city on the screen and searched for any nearby stores. Locating an army surplus store that was less than quarter mile from his location, Jeremie decided to stop at the store and buy a few supplies. When he reached the nearest sewer access to the store, he parked the two overboards and removed his body armor. Hoping that no-one would recognize him, he climbed the ladder and stepped out into the night. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day.


	6. Moment of Truth

**Chapter 6:Moment of Truth**

Jeremie quickened his pace. The cashier at the store had given him a weird look as he purchased the supplies. He couldn't tell if it was because of something he had bought, or if the woman had recognized him, but whatever her reason, he certainly didn't want to stick around and find out. Arriving at his destination, Jeremie removed the steel cover and dropped the two bags he had been carrying inside. He retrieved the items that he had purchased only a few minutes before and walked towards the location where he had parked the overboards. Jeremie opened the two bags and removed a box of MREs, two one-liter water bottles, two sets of full body camouflage, two hunting knives, and a first-aid kit. Jeremie quickly redressed himself with his body armor hidden under the military fatigues, and packed the remainder of the supplies. He stuffed his old clothes along with the empty MRE box into one of the bags and climbed back up the ladder to deposit the bag into a nearby trashcan. Now free of the unnecessary material, Jeremie grabbed his pack, jumped on his overboard, and took off towards the Hermitage.

Jeremie, retrieved the key from his pocket and unlocked the front door. Aelita and he had replaced the lock a few months ago to deter any curious hikers from entering the house. Taking a quick glance around the interior, Jeremie led the overboards into the foyer and relocked the door. Jeremie entered the kitchen and turned on the faucet. The water appeared to be clean, and he let it run while he fetched the water bottles. He filled his bottle with a small amount of the water and took a taste. Satisfied that the water was fine, he filled both of the bottles and returned the containers to the packs. Jeremie grabbed the PDA and moved over to the couch. He spent several minutes reviewing schematics of the building layout, noting any details that he could use to his advantage. Jeremie located an encrypted file the contained a detailed report on the surveillance and security system of the facility, and he decided to eat his meal while the PDA decrypted the document. As he approached his bag, he noticed dusty foot prints leading toward the window next to the front door. Alarmed, he turned and traced the foot prints back to Aelita's room. Jeremie moved to the closet and let out a sigh as he read the note that his father had left him. He would have to deal with this after he freed Aelita. Jeremie folded the note and placed it in his pocket as he returned to his bag. He removed one of the meals and returned to the couch. The PDA was still busy; so he opened the pouch and poured the contents onto the table in front of him. The main course was chicken alfredo with peach cobbler as a dessert and the typical crackers with cheese for a snack. Jeremie opened the entrée and grabbed the fork that had come in the package. He took a cautious bite, but was relieved when it tasted reasonably close to its namesake. His food probably would have tasted better warm, but he didn't want to waste any time heating it. As he ate, is thoughts drifted to Aelita. What were they doing to her? Was she okay? Would he be able to save her?

* * *

"Sit down, and shut up!" commanded Mathis.

"I didn't say anything."

"Didn't he just tell you to be quiet?" retorted Grégoire.

"Why should I?"

"Glad you asked," responded Grégoire.

The door opened, and Aelita turned to look at the new visitor. Her defiant expression failed when she saw that the man was pushing a cart, and two guards had accompanied him into the room.

"This is Jean," continued Grégoire. "He's an expert in the art of extracting information. Since you were no longer willing to answer our questions, I sought his help. We will still be asking the questions, but Jean will be the one persuading you to answer. You may proceed Jean."

"Yes sir. You two, secure the girl," Jean commanded as the two guards advanced towards Aelita.

She tried to stand but was forced back down by Grégoire. The guards bound her arms and legs to the chair, and strapped her waist and shoulders down.

"Who's losing control because it certainly isn't us?" Grégoire whispered into her ear.

The two guards exited the room while Jean moved the cart behind her, and Grégoire returned to the opposite side of the table. Mathis opened the folder he had been carrying and tossed a photo from it on the table in front her.

"What were doing at this research lab in Siberia?" Grégoire asked.

"I don't know what you are..."

"Maybe you should look at the picture first," Mathis interrupted as he tapped the picture with his hand.

"I was admiring the architecture."

She noticed Grégoire mouth something, and her suspicions were answered as she felt Jean grab her and inject something into her arm. Mathis watched as the girl whimpered through clenched teeth while writhing in pain. After a few minutes the pain in her expression faded, and the whimpers faded. He leaned across the table and repeated his question. She looked up at him, her previously defiant expression replaced with a glare of hatred.

"I was there to destroy the supercomputer."

"Is that all you were doing there?"

"Why else would I go to an abandoned lab in the middle of Siberia?"

"Answer the question!"

When she refused to answer him, Mathis nodded to Jean.

"If you would simply cooperate, we wouldn't have to do this," Grégoire stated as he watched Jean administer another dose.

"If you were only at the lab to destroy the computer, explain why there was platoon of heavily armed robots," Mathis continued.

"Maybe they were having a picnic," Aelita replied with pain and sarcasm present in her voice.

"Cut the crap, or the pain will only get worse," Grégoire cautioned her.

"I am not answering anymore of your questions!"

"You don't have much of a choice. Continue the treatment, Jean, and alert us when she is ready to talk," Mathis instructed.

"Yes, sir," replied Jean as the two men left the room. After the door had closed, Jean turned to face to his victim.

"Let's see just how much pain your secrets are worth to you."

* * *

Jeremie climbed into the old freight elevator, and waited as the machine carried him to the surface. The PDA was powerful for its size, it was even faster than his desktop machine, but even it paled in comparison to the raw power that Franz Hopper's creation offered. After reading the reports on the holding facility, he realized that the best plan of escape involved covertly infiltrating the base, disabling the building's utilities and escaping in the ensuing confusion. He needed to get inside unnoticed, and he needed a sufficiently high security clearance to access all of the building's areas. His false clearance also needed to be low enough to avoid any unwanted attention, and so, he had spent the last hour forging a complete level 6 security profile that included his physical description, finger prints, and photo ID. The lift reached the surface and Jeremie approached the equipment. He double checked all the weapons and supplies while taking special care to ensure that he properly repacked all of the gear. Satisfied that all of the equipment was in working order and that he was as prepared as he could be under the current circumstances, Jeremie hopped on his board, and set off towards the military compound.

Jeremie slowed to a stop. The PDA in his hand cautioned him not to advance any closer to facility's perimeter while the map on the screen highlighted several motion and vibration sensors that were within 30 meters of his current location. He dismissed the warning and pulled up the connection to the compound's security server. Working quickly, Jeremie disconnected the stream of sensor data and substituted a stream that he had instructed the server to record before he left. Now that his intrusion would go unnoticed, he maneuvered the overboard through the trees and over the perimeter fence. As soon as he was clear of the sensors, he returned the sensor stream to its original source, and erased the file he had used. If anyone discovered that the perimeter had been breached, he would find a rather large and angry welcoming committee awaiting him. Carefully weaving around the outlying storage containers with the aid of a thermal satellite image, Jeremie slowly traced a path towards the main building. He stopped at the entrance to one of the storage sheds when he was only a short run away from a side entrance and keyed in his security code. This lock chimed as the magnetic lock disengaged and the door swung open. Jeremie moved the overboards into one of the empty rooms, and removed his pack. He grabbed Aelita's pack and exited the room, securing the door as he exited the building. He casually walked towards the door in the side of the building. Running or glancing around would draw unwanted attention, but if he looked like he belonged there, any nearby guards would be less likely to harass him. When he reached the door, Jeremie entered his code, the latch clicked open, and he stepped into a hallway with bare concrete walls. He consulted the map on his PDA and walked down the hall following the path displayed on his PDA towards the main utility room.

Jeremie came to a halt in front of a gray door with the "173 / Utilities" displayed on a blue plaque next the door frame. Entering the security code, he opened the door and proceeded inside. He located the main and auxiliary power feeds on the left side of the room, and placed one of the EMP devices on the floor in between the two control panels. After a quick glance at current time on the PDA, he set the time delay on the device for 10 minutes. He picked up the device, slid back a ceiling tile placed the device inside and returned the tile to its original position. Plotting the path towards the server room, Jeremie exited the utility closet, and walked further down corridor. He stopped at a door with a green sign that simply stated, "144 / Mainframe." After gaining access Jeremie walked to the center of the room and moved the ceiling tile away, he removed a second EMP device from the pack and set its timer to detonate the bomb five seconds before the one he had planted in the utility room would kill the power. Exiting the room, Jeremie recalled the map on his PDA, and highlighted the route towards the nearest ventilation shaft. He started walking as he pulled up the server access window. After entering a few commands and temporarily disabling all of the system logs, he deactivated the security sensors in the air shaft, but instructed the server to continue indicating that shaft monitors were still functioning properly. He closed the window and opened a door on his right. He closed the door and ran through the service corridor following the noise of rushing air. He opened the red door at the end of the corridor and began his decent down the ladder.

Sixty-five steps later Jeremie opened a door reading "Subfloor 6" and exited the howling wind. He closed the door behind him and reactivated the shaft sensors as he walked towards the exit. He pulled up a map of the current floor and quickly located Aelita's holding room. The PDA vibrated in his hand, reminding him that he had two minutes remaining until the EMP would detonate as he exited the corridor and proceeded towards his destination. "Two minutes is perfect," he thought as he turned down another corridor. Jeremie reached the door at the far end and entered the security code along with his thumb print. The door clicked open and Jeremie proceeded on his way. He turned around a corner and suppressed the sudden urge to jump back out of site. The hallway before him was lined with at least twenty guards. He maintained his current pace as he examined the map on his screen. He relaxed slightly as he turned down the corridor to Aelita's room, and saw only two guards beside what appeared to be her room. He glanced at the countdown on the PDA. The timer indicated that less than 20 seconds remained. He watched the number tick down ten, and activated his shield. The guard closest to Jeremie noticed his action and notified his partner. The lights flickered out and he fired at the first guard as the emergency lighting activated. The second guard raised his weapon when his partner fell, but Jeremie had already fired his second shot. Jeremie was surprised, the rifle hadn't made much noise, but it did make a visible flash. Thankfully, the other guards hadn't noticed any of the events occurring in the hallway, but he knew it wouldn't be long before their absence would be noticed. He reached down and removed the radio clipped on the vest of the guard closest to him. He smiled a little. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard he had expected. As he approached the door, however, his expression fell into a frown. He had forgotten that disabling the power and computer systems would also disable the keypad on the lock. "I'm probably going to regret this," Jeremie muttered as he knocked on the door.

* * *

Aelita was shaking now. The pain was no longer her only problem now, the drugs were also starting to affect her other senses. The pain had been bad enough alone, but now the drugs were making her disoriented and nauseated.

"'Aelita' is it? This will only end if you decided to cooperate, or you pass out. You might..."

The man stopped in mid sentence and looked up as the lighting failed and the emergency flood lights partially lit up the room. The man's gaze moved to door as what sounded like knocking came from the other side of door.

"You don't have to knock; you know." Jean yelled.

"The lock isn't working because of the power failure. Could you open the door?" came the muffled response from outside. "Why does that voice seem familiar?" Aelita wondered.

Jean opened the door and after what appeared to be a small blue sphere impacted him in the chest, the man crumpled to floor. Aelita's eyes widened as a figured entered the room dragging something on the floor just out her line of sight. The figure closed the door, and turned to face her.

"Are you alright, Aelita?" the figure asked.

"Jeremie?"

"Who else would it be? Let me get you out of that chair." he replied with a smile. He walked over to the chair and removed the restraints holding her to the chair. She tried to stand, but Jeremie had to steady her when she almost fell down.

"Are you certain that you are fine?"

"It'll take a few minutes for the drugs to wear off, but yes, I'm fine," Aelita replied with a weak smile.

"OK. This is for you by the way," Jeremie stated as he handed her the bag that he had been wearing. "I figured that you might want something other than a prison uniform. The body armor goes under the fatigues."

"Thanks, Jeremie. But, could you turn around while I change."

"Actually, I'll keep watch outside. Just come out when you are ready. I'll see you in a minute, Aelita."

"See you in a minute, Jeremie."

* * *

The door to the room opened, and Aelita exited dressed in her new clothes.

"So, what's the plan?"

"We walk out of here."

"And what's 'plan B'?"

"We fight our way out."

"Let's hope your 'plan A' works."

"Before we go, do you need me to show how the weapons work?"

"No, but what's this thing for?" Aelita asked as she held up her personal EM shield.

"Oh, that. You just press the yellow button to activate the shield."

"Shield huh?"

"Just turn it on, please. You might need it."

"Fine. I'll press the yellow button. Hey! Cool! I see you've been busy while I was gone."

"Well I couldn't exactly spend my free time the past two days with you. Could I? Now come on, we need to leave before they know what happened."

Just as Aelita was about to respond, a garbled transmission came through the radio informing the pair that the mainframe and power system had been destroyed, and that all suspicious activity should be reported immediately.

"You were saying..."

"We need to go now."

"This is Assistant Director Grégoire. What is the prisoner's status?"

Jeremie glanced at Aelita, and then responded.

"I'll check with Jean, sir." After a minute pause, he continued. "Jean says that she still refuses to cooperate, but he feels that it should only take him a few more hours to break her."

"Thank, you. If you notice anything out of place, report it to me immediately."

"Yes, sir."

Aelita turned to Jeremie. "A few hours?"

"Don't look at me like that. He wanted an answer, and I gave him a reasonable response. I don't think you're weak."

"Mhmm. Sure you do." Aelita replied with a devious smile on her face.

"You can taunt me as much as you want later, but right now we have to get out here."

"You're right. Let's go." Aelita responded as she slung the rifle over her shoulder and started to walk down the hall, but Jeremie grabbed her shoulder.

"Not that way. This way," he started as he pointed over his shoulder. "Fewer guards that have already seen me," he finished as he turned and casually walked down the hallway as if he belonged there. Aelita, was curious what he meant by the last sentence, but she simply shrugged it off, and mimicked his example.

Jeremie visibly relaxed when they approached the exit to the holding area. His anxiety rose again, however, when the door refused to open. He sighed and turned to face to Aelita.

"Get ready to run because when I blow this door every agent and guard in this facility is going to rush down here."

"OK, but when do I get to shoot something?"

Jeremie gave her a strange look, but replied in a dead serious tone, "Don't worry you'll get your chance soon enough."

He switched his rifle to maximum and aimed at the handle on the door.

"3... 2... 1..." The door shattered in an ear splitting explosion.

"You said you were going to blow the door open not vaporise it!" Aelita hissed in his ear.

"Jeez. Sorry. My bad," Jeremie hissed back, as he sprinted down the hall with Aelita in tow.

* * *

Aelita yelped as Jeremie rounded a corner and the sound of another door shattering met her ears. She turned the corner just as he disappeared inside the opening. As she entered, she saw the boy dashing down the corridor. She felt like a rat in a maze. How he could remember all of these passages? She watched as he stopped at the end of the hall and covered her ears in expectation of another explosion, but lowered her hands when he opened the door with his hand. He waited for her to catch up, and then he started climbing the ladder. Aelita closed the door behind her and began her ascent. When she reached the top Jeremie helped her out and closed the door behind her. He then led her towards the exit, but instead of flinging the door wide open, he cracked the door open slightly and cautiously surveyed the corridor before motioning for her to follow him. He pulled the guard's radio off his belt and clicked it off. There hadn't been any chatter on the radio since he had blown the door, and he figured that they had switched radio frequencies so that he, the intruder, couldn't listen in on their conversations. He turned the last corner and saw that the door was guarded. He continued his jog toward the door when the man pointed behind Jeremie and shouted, "Stop, her!" Jeremie turned to see Aelita running towards him. She raised her rifle and shot the guard. Jeremie reached the guard and swapped the radios. When Aelita reached him, he opened the door and lead her at a normal pace towards the storage shed. They had walked about ten meters, when he heard someone shout, "Freeze!" from behind them, and he felt the heat of a searchlight on his back. He turned to Aelita and mouthed the word "run" to her, and then took off towards the shed with their rides. He heard men shouting and approaching footsteps, as he shattered the door with a rifle shot and ran in to retrieve the equipment, he entered the room with their equipment, put on his pack, grabbed the boards, and ran out to meet Aelita. He found her leaning in the door firing at the approaching guards. He grabbed her shoulder, and handed her a board. She glanced at him with a puzzled expression. Her expression made him smile, and her grabbed her by the shoulders. "It's just like on LYOKO," he instructed her with a wink. His comment apparently confused her even more; so he just tossed his board on the ground and hopped on it. Her eyes lit up in understanding, and he flew out of the door followed closely by his love. As they flew towards the tree line, Jeremie felt something hit his shield and heard the report of a rifle. His eyes widened. They wanted him, dead or alive. He felt a second hit, and his shield issued a chirp, indicating that it was nearly depleted. A third shot impacted his shield and the protective layer fizzled into nonexistence. He turned to Aelita who was now next him, and noticed that they were now passing trees. He opened his mouth to speak but cried out in pain as a fourth shot tore through his shoulder and knocked him off balance.

"Jeremie!" Aelita had heard the shots, but didn't know anything was seriously wrong until she had heard Jeremie yell and fall from his board. She swerved after him and watched as his board plunged below the tree tops to catch him. She followed it down and was relieved to find that the board had succeeded in stopping his fall, but he didn't appear to be moving. She entered a clearing and paused to check on his condition. He had a bullet wound just below his shoulder blade. The bullet had gone straight through. She checked the blood for bubbles and listened to his breathing. His breathing sounded normal, and she sighed in relief when she couldn't find any signs of a punctured lung. The bleeding was minor and she figured that he must have gotten lucky, that is if you can call getting shot lucky. She removed his pack and pulled out the first-aid kit. She poured peroxide over the two wounds and applied two gauze pads with antiseptic ointment on the wounds and wrapped his shoulder. She removed the PDA from his pocket, and placed him back on the overboard with his pack lying on his legs and strapped him and the pack to the board. She gathered her stuff, climbed on her board, and looked through the maps on the PDA for a safe place to spend the night.


	7. Aftermath

**Chapter 7:Aftermath**

Mathis returned the prototype rifle to it's case and left the roof. He had to admit that the gun's accuracy and power had surprised him at first. It had, after all, been several years since he last used a firearm, much less a high powered sniper rifle with a two kilometer range and and auto-ranging scope. He sighed and exited the stairwell while slinging the case across his back so he could weave through the chaos in the hallway. Hopefully the new tracer round worked, but even if it was a failure, they could always track the heat signatures of the two kids. Mathis strode over to Grégoire's desk and silently placed the empty cartridge from the tracer round in front of his friend. Grégoire informed the individual on the other end of phone that he would call back later with a full report and returned the handset to its cradle.

"So you managed to tag him. Right?"

"Yes sir, but we need to check the satellite feed to verify that the tracker is functioning correctly."

"Excellent. Is the boy going to survive his injury?"

"It was a clean through-and-through in a non-vital area of his chest. He should be fine."

"At least something went right. That was Jeff from division headquarters on the phone. He was informing me that service technicians are coming over in a few minutes to replace the damaged equipment in the building and that all of the systems should be operational again in a few hours."

"That's not bad considering what happened. I mean it's not everyday that a fifteen year old boy hacks into a high security facility undetected, frees a heavily guarded prisoner, neutralizes over 50 guards, and escapes in under 10 minutes."

"Well you could have killed them you know..."

"I know. I'm just saying that for a computer nerd and an aspiring DJ they had fairly decent tactical training and, not to mention, that their weapons were far more advanced than anything we have encountered before. Any word on what type of rifle they were packing?"

"Smith found a reference to them in one of the Carthage files. They appear to be some kind of DEW."

"Directed energy weapons? Aren't those still in the concept stage?"

"I asked him the same thing, but he insisted that the description of the weapon in the file was an almost exact match for how the guards had described the weapons."

"I'm not sure I like the thought of two teenagers running around with rifles that can shatter a five centimeter thick steel door as if it were made of glass. I mean we're fortunate that they didn't kill anyone."

"Yeah, we got lucky in that area. None of the casualties suffered any permanent injuries."

Grégoire paused as an aid handed him a paper and continued past.

"Damn it," he muttered as he crumpled the page and tossed it away.

"What's wrong?"

"Apparently, the tracer round malfunctioned. The radioisotope jacket didn't separate from the bullet, and the satellite located the round in a tree two hundred meters from the perimeter fence. The report also indicates that we lost them on the thermal tracking as well. They simply disappeared."

"Where exactly did the satellite loose them?"

"It lost track of them near the city limits. Why?"

"Just a hunch. Was there a flash on the thermal before they disappeared?"

"Yes. What are you getting at?"

"I think they're using the storm drains to hide from the satellites. It explains why the satellite lost them so quickly."

"What gave you that idea?"

"It's how I sneaked onto the school campus to grab the girl. The kids probably also used them to sneak on and off the campus."

"OK, great, but that doesn't help us find them."

"Call me when the system is back online. I'm going to go test my hunch."

"Sure thing, but if you find them, don't engage them without calling for backup."

"You know me better than that," Mathis, replied as he turned to leave.

"That's what worries me," Grégoire muttered as he focused his attention back to the reports on his desk.

* * *

Jeremie raised his arms in front of his face as he plummeted towards the tree tops below. The sharp pain in his shoulder reminded of his wound, but he ignored and kept his arms up as he felt the branches and leaves rip at his clothing and buffet his body. The branches thickened snapping with his descent until, his chest impacted a branch with a sickening crack, as two of his ribs shattered and he paused in his fall. Stunned from the sudden impact, he tried to regain his breathe as he felt himself slipping off the branch and he continued his plummet towards the ground. His vision swam as the sound of his skull hitting metal reached his ears seconds before the world went black. A soft thud awoke him from his dream, and he opened his eyes. The pain and his injuries were gone, the only proof that his dream was a memory was the torn, blood stained shirt laying on the floor next to him and the absence of his glasses. He lifted himself on his elbows and took in his surroundings. He was in his sleeping bag, lying on a metal floor in a room with metal walls.

Realization dawned on Jeremie and a smiled formed across his face. Aelita had taken him to the factory and healed his injuries with one of the scanners. He glanced around and noticed the equipment piled behind one of the scanners. He stood and walked towards the ladder leading up to the console and the holosphere projector. When he reached the computer chair his smile dropped into an expression of concern, as he located the source of the thud that had awoken him. Aelita was laying on the floor unconscious, and from her position he judged that she must have fallen asleep at the computer and fallen out of the chair in her slumber. He went back to the scanner room and retrieved her sleeping bag. He spread the bedding on the floor of the lab and returned to Aelita. After carefully scooping her up he moved her over to the bag and gently placed her down. He folded the bag closed to keep her warm and walked back to the chair. As he sat down he noticed that she had been reading the files that he located two days ago. The document that she was viewing when she drifted to sleep was the order authorizing the abduction of her mother. Unfortunately, there was no mention of where her mother had been detained. He glanced at the time on the screen and released an audible groan. It was three in the afternoon which meant that he had been out cold for just under twelve hours. He must have been injured worse than he remembered if it had taken him that long to wake up even after Aelita used the scanner on him. He'd have to thank her when she woke up.

Jeremie rose out of the chair moved to Aelita's side, and his smile returned as he noticed how peaceful she looked as she slept. He reached out to gently stroke her cheek, but as his hand met her skin, he recoiled in surprise. Her skin felt ice cold. He placed a hand on her forehead and quickly withdrew it as he scrambled for the thermometer in the first-aid kit. He placed the sensor under her tongue and after a few seconds it chirped indicating that it had reached a stable temperature. He retrieved it and flinched as the display somberly flashed a reading of twenty-nine point three degrees Celsius. He replaced the sensor and muttered a curse under his breathe when the reading came back half a degree colder. He quickly grabbed her and rushed into the elevator. He placed her in a scanner and returned to the computer to begin a scan. After a few seconds a new window popped-up indicating that there was nothing physically wrong her except for her extremely low temperature and a few remaining traces of the drugs they had used to interrogate her. The report concluded with a summary that Aelita would be fine once her temperature returned to normal and that it would be best if she was gradually warmed up; however, it also indicated that the scanners should not be used to treat hypothermia. Jeremie sighed in relief as he closed the scan and went to retrieve Aelita. He knew what he needed to do, and he hoped that Aelita would be in an understanding mood when she woke up.

* * *

Micheal trudged along the trail to the Hermitage with a mixture of anger and defeat guiding him. The police had informed him at noon that all active searches had been called off and that the case was now cold. They had received no tips, and they didn't have any leads. His reaction was understandable to say the least. He grabbed the police officer, yelled accusations of incompetence, sloth, and stupidity at him and stormed out of the building. He knew the officer was probably correct, but it didn't help. Micheal slowed to halt. "Is that a car?" he questioned the woods around him, and slowly continued towards the sound of a vehicle driving along a gravel road. He reached the end of the path and paused in surprise as the Hermitage came into view with a black BMW parked on the gravel in front of the gate. Curious about where the car had come from, Micheal circled the car noting the security decal in the windshield, and the government plates. His eyes narrowed. Maybe this is why the search had been called off so soon. Micheal wheeled around as he heard the front door of the house close. Luckily the agent hadn't seen him, and he took the opportunity to duck behind a shrub. He heard the agent dialing a number, and listened intently to the agent's side of the conversation.

"Yeah I did find something."

"No, but they've been here recently, and they replaced the lock on the front door."

"OK. I'll be right there."

Micheal peered through the bush as the agent stepped into the car, and drove off. When the car was out of site, he emerged from behind the plant and entered the Hermitage. He glanced around the interior and noticed that the trashcan in the kitchen had an brown plastic bag in it with the words "MEAL READY TO EAT" stamped on it. "So, Jeremie has been here," he thought to himself as he continued looking around the house. He exited through the back door, and was about to leave when he noticed what appeared to be a door to a basement. Intrigued, he opened the entrance and followed the stairs into the dark.

* * *

Yumi sprinted down the street towards the school, tightly clutching a newspaper in her hand. She had to show her friends and she had to show them now. Entering the gates, she continued jogging towards the cafeteria. After she opened the door and located her friends, she hustled to their table. Ulrich noticed her approaching and looked up at her.

"What's wrong, Yumi? I thought you were eating at home today."

"I was, but I saw this and needed to show you guys." Yumi continued as she tossed the paper face up on the table."

"Um, that's great Yumi, but it's in Japanese." Odd remarked.

"Look at the picture, Odd." Sissi stated as she pointed at the photo covering half of the page.

"Okay, I see two people in camouflage on skateboards, with trees in the background."

"Look closer." Yumi told them.

The three leaned closer and gasped in surprise. The two people were not riding skateboards, they were flying through the air above a forest, but what shocked them even more was the pink hair of the shorter soldier.

"What does the paper say, Yumi?" Odd asked.

"The headline reads, 'Terrorist Assault'. The article begins, 'At 2:00 AM local time, security was breached at a classified government facility near the commune of Fontainebleau. Local and government authorities still refuse to admit that the assault occurred, but fortunately my photographer and I were able to get photographic and video proof as the attackers fled. More details will be published when they become available, if you have any information on the attack please contact the authorities. Frances, a local resident since 1984, had the following comment...' It continues on page four." Yumi finished.

"Fontainebleau is an hour drive from here. What were Aelita and Jeremie doing there?" Sissi asked.

"I wish we knew, Sissi, but we don't." Odd replied.

"You think this has to do with why they disappeared?" Ulrich asked.

"It has to be connected. It can't be just a coincidence." Yumi responded.

"I know. I just wish there was something that we could do." Odd stated as he lowered his head.

"We all do, Odd. We all do." Sissi responded.

"I'll walk you home, Yumi." Ulrich offered.

"Thanks, Ulrich." She responded as the two of them left the cafeteria.

* * *

"Why is there a news helicopter circling the facility? I thought this was a no-fly zone." Mathis questioned Grégoire.

"It is, but we can't exactly shoot them down can we?"

"Is that why you needed me back here, so quickly."

"It's only a small part of the problem." Grégoire responded as he pointed to the wall of monitors behind him.

Mathis looked up at the monitors puzzled that various news broadcasts were being shown instead of the typical display of tactical information.

"Why is the nightly news on?"

"Just watch it, you'll see soon enough." Grégoire hissed at him as he answered the phone.

Mathis watched the screens as his curiosity took control. "What could be so important about a news report that Grégoire would be so freaked out?" He pondered while he scanned the screens. His eyes settled on a broadcast that was showing a video stream of the building. He leaped off the desk and moved closer so he could see the video clearer. What he saw terrified him. A group of reporters doing a story on a meteor shower had captured the entire fire fight on camera, including the shots that he had fired from the roof.

"Worried yet?" Grégoire had moved behind him while he was focused on the screen.

"More like terrified. How the hell did we miss this?!" Mathis exclaimed as he turned around to face Grégoire.

"I don't know and I don't care. Division has already issued a cover story claiming that the assault was merely a training exercise, but I'm not sure the press will buy it this time. Especially not since they got a close up of the bullet ripping through the kid's shoulder. We'll just have to see."

"What about that chopper? Any word on when they'll leave?"

"They should be gone now. ATC issued them a order to vacate the facility's airspace. They mentioned something about taking them out with a SAM if they didn't comply in the next ten minutes."

"I'm sure the media is going to love that."

"It's not my problem as long as they are gone. So the kids really did visit the house?"

"Yeah, I found an MRE wrapper in the trashcan. I also found foot prints that didn't belong to the kids. Someone with size twelve and a half shoes has also been snooping around the Hermitage."

"So they have an accomplice. Any thoughts on who it might be?"

"No, but I had a feeling that someone was watching me while I was leaving. Can you check the satellite feed at the time that I was there."

"Sure. It'll take a second. Here it is, and it looks like you weren't alone, Mathis. Check this out."

Mathis walked around the desk so he could see the screen, and watched as a man walked out of the woods and circled the car. The man turned to face the door to the hermitage, and the suspect dashed for cover behind a nearby bush. The man watched as Mathis drove off, and then walked into the Hermitage.

"It's a shame that he never looked up." Mathis commented.

"Well, we can't get lucky all of the time." Grégoire replied. "I'll send it over to tech and let them see what they can find."

* * *

Aelita's eyes fluttered open as she felt someone gently rubbing her back. As she tilted her head back, Jeremie's gaze met hers, and a smile creased her face as his worried expression faded into a warm smile. She pulled him closer, and he kissed her lightly on her forehead.

"Feeling better?" He asked her, as he continued rubbing her back.

"Better? What happened?"

"You passed out at the computer terminal from hypothermia. Your system ran out of adrenaline and you just crashed." He stated with concern in his voice.

"I guess that explains why we're both in our underwear. You behaved yourself. Right?" Aelita's smile broadened as a blush crept onto his face.

"Of course I did. Now stop making me blush."

"Make me." Aelita replied in childish taunt.

"Is that a challenge?" Jeremie questioned as he suppressed a laugh.

Aelita opened her mouth to respond, but burst out laughing as Jeremie started tickling her.

"Stop... tickling... me..." Aelita gasped in between bouts of laughter.

"You're the one who asked me to make you stop." Jeremie laughed out as Aelita retaliated by tickling him.

"But I didn't ask you to tickle me to death." Aelita responded with a playful punch in his arm.

"We should probably get dressed and try to figure out what to do next." Jeremie stated as he stopped tickling her.

"Can we just relax for a few minutes? How often do we get to have this much time just to ourselves?" Aelita asked him with a fake pout.

"OK, Aelita, but only for a few minutes. We really need to devise a plan before they figure out where we are." he replied as he started rubbing her back again.

"Thank you, Jeremie."

"For what?"

"For everything that you've done for me."

"Aelita, you don't have to thank me. Being here with you is more than enough."

"Do you ever regret turning on the supercomputer?"

"Sometimes, but every time that I think about it, I realize that I would do it again, just so I could find you."

"I love you." Aelita whispered as she hugged him tighter.

"I love you too, Aelita." Jeremie whispered as he kissed her.

* * *

A metal door in a concrete walkway slid open and a man emerged into the twilight. Micheal took a quick look around, and surveyed his surroundings. He noticed that the edge of the woods stood thirty meters from the section of the riverfront where he was standing and that in the opposite direction was a bridge leading into what appeared to be a long abandoned factory. After deciding that his arrival at the bridge was not a coincidence, Micheal approached the entrance, and grabbed one of the oddly new looking climbing ropes that hung where what appeared to be a stairway once stood. Once safely on the factory floor, he walked towards the freight elevator and examined it. Despite it's initial appearance, the old machine seemed to be in working order. Micheal walked in and and pressed the down button, but the elevator didn't move. Deciding that it couldn't hurt, he pressed the up button and steadied himself as the elevator lurched to life and began its descent.

* * *

"... and that's how my parents claim they met." Jeremie concluded as he finished the story that Aelita had requested him to tell her.

"That's an interesting way to meet someone."

"It's still not as interesting as how I met you though."

"Yes, but not everyone's father builds a supercomputer in the basement of an abandoned factory."

"Actually your father didn't..." Jeremie stopped and looked towards the elevator doors.

"He didn't what? Jeremie?"

"Shh!" He hushed her as he walked towards the elevator doors.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't have to answer her as the sound of the lift activating met their ears.

"Grab your clothes. We need to go." Jeremie ordered as he tossed her clothes to her and climbed down the ladder. Aelita scrambled after him and began dressing herself. The two waited as the elevator stopped and they heard someone step off into the lab.

"Jeremie? Aelita?" the man called out.

"Wait. Isn't that your father?" Aelita whispered in Jeremie's ear.

"It sounds like him. I'll take a look." Jeremie whispered back.

Jeremie climbed the ladder and was about to peer over the edge when the elevator started moving down again. He quickly climbed down the ladder and grabbed a rifle as he moved in front of Aelita. The lift stopped on their floor and Jeremie raised his weapon as the door slid open.

"Jeremie?" Micheal asked as he looked at his son and then at the gun he was holding. "What are you doing?"

"Dad? What are you doing here?" He questioned as he lowered the rifle.

"I came here looking for you." Micheal answered as he walked forward and hugged Jeremie. "Where's Aelita?"

"Uhh..." Jeremie looked around behind him. "She was here a few seconds ago..."

"Hello, Mr. Belpois." Aelita greeted as she appeared from behind one of the scanners.

"Hello, Aelita. It's a relief to see that both of you are all right." Micheal's gaze drifted back to Jeremie and he noticed that Jeremie wasn't wearing a shirt over what appeared to body armor, but Aelita was. His attention turned to the sleeping bag on the floor and the shirt laying next to it. Micheal walked over and picked up the shirt.

"Dad?"

"Is this yours?"

Jeremie only nodded at him, and he noticed that Aelita seemed uneasy.

"What happened?"

"It's a long story, Dad."

"Well start explaining."

"He freed me from the people who took me."

"OK, but why is this shirt covered in blood, and shredded to pieces?"

"I got shot in the shoulder, and I fell through a tree."

"What?!"

"I'm fine now. Aelita treated the wounds."

"Fine? How can you be fine after getting shot?"

"We'll show you later." Aelita answered.

"Aelita." Micheal turned to face Aelita. "Where are your parents? Why haven't we been able to reach them?"

Aelita's expression darkened and Jeremie glared at him.

"What was wrong with my question?" Micheal asked them.

"We have to tell him, Jeremie."

"Are you sure, Aelita."

"Yes, and you need to start at the beginning."

"Beginning of what?"

Jeremie turned to face his father.

"Project Carthage."

"What's 'Project Carthage'?"

"It was military project tasked with the creation of a device capable of disrupting all enemy communications." Aelita stated.

"Actually, Aelita that was not the main focus of the project."

Micheal watched as Aelita turned to face Jeremie. "But my father..."

"He wasn't telling the whole truth when he said that Aelita."

"Why would he lie about something like that?"

"Because the truth is more terrifying than your father was willing to admit, Aelita."

"What are you trying to say Jeremie?" his father interrupted.

"The program that your father mentioned in his diary as 'Project Carthage' was actually Sector 5. Everything in this factory, including the supercomputer, the scanners, and LYOKO itself were part of the real Carthage project, Aelita."

"Jeremie, why don't you tell us everything you know from the beginning like Aelita originally suggested? That way we'll both know what's really happening."

Aelita nodded in consent, and Jeremie motioned for them to sit down.

"The year is 1973 and the Cold War is taking its toll. Oil prices and inflation are soaring, nuclear weapons are finding their way into the hands of more and of countries, and wars are breaking out across the world. The atomic age is nearing the thirtieth anniversary of its dawn, and technological advances are occurring with dizzying speed. Computers are getting faster, smaller, cheaper and the possibility of machines capable of making intelligent decisions without the need of a human operator grows stronger everyday. The DGSE embraced the developing technology and began researching alternatives to electrical circuitry in the production of computers. In 1974, the X.25 protocol made the first commercial data networks practical, and the DGSE decided to shift the focus of their computer research. Project Carthage was created with the intent of creating a method for transferring personnel and material across the rapidly growing information networks. The agency assembles a team of leading researchers in the fields of physics, computing, and quantum mechanics. One of the men that the agency recruits is Waldo Franz Schaeffer, Aelita's father. Franz is designated as the principal scientist and the design process begins. Two years later, the government purchases the factory that we are currently standing and they begin assembling the super calculator, the first and only fully operational quantum computer in the world. After three years of working around the clock, the team powers up the completed machine, and the researchers begin the task of programming the machine and creating the scanners. They hire a team of programmers and give them a crash course in how the computer functions. The talents of Antea Hopper attract the attention of Franz and the two begin to fall in love. In an early test of the scanners, Antea volunteers to be the test subject despite the objections of Franz, and his assertions that the scanners are not ready for human test subjects. His superiors order the completion of the test, and Franz watches as the scanner performs a test scan of your mother. The scanner malfunctions partway through the cycle and the doors swing open as Antea falls out unconscious. A few weeks later your parents resigned their posts, and moved to the town of Saint Charles in the French Alps. Your parents married each other at the local church in 1981, and the following year Aelita Schaeffer was born. It wasn't until you were born that your parents realized the full extent of what had happened to your mother when the scanner malfunctioned. At first there were no signs that anything had gone wrong during the test. A week after the test they noticed that her hair was no longer growing in its original red color, but instead the roots were now a soft pink. That was the day that they both submitted their resignations. Until you were born they figured that only your mother's DNA had been affected, but when your hair was also pink, they realized just how far the effects reached. It wasn't a mutation like they had originally thought. Instead of simply causing the cells to mutate, the scanner had modified every strand of DNA in her body, replacing the normal gene responsible for red hair color with the modified pink gene, and Antea had passed on the modified gene to Aelita. Without your mother and father the project slowly ground to halt, and in 1987 the government abducted your mother in attempt to blackmail your father into returning and completing the project. Your father instead took you and moved to the Hermitage, where the government lost track of you both. In the wake of your disappearance and the end of the cold war, the DGSE abandoned the project and the factory in 1988. However in 1993 with the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York, the DGSE began searching for threats to national security. He began finishing the scanners, and started working on LYOKO, a place where the two of you could bide your time until it was safe for both of you to flee the country. On June 6, 1994 you father discovered the computer's ability to reverse time, and he repeated the day 2546 times while he continued to prepare LYOKO. What her father didn't know is that a DGSE agent had spotted Aelita and reported it each time. He also didn't realize that XANA, a program he had created to neutralize the military aspects of the computer, had grown beyond its original function and become self-aware. On June 7, 1994, governments agents arrived at the Hermitage to arrest Franz. He and Aelita fled through the sewers to the factory and Franz virtualized them onto LYOKO. Once they were on LYOKO, XANA perceived their presence as threat to its original mission of destroying Carthage, and attacked them. In an attempt to prevent XANA from spreading, Franz powered off the supercomputer. My freshman year at Kadic I discovered the factory, and when I turned on the computer, I met Aelita. She didn't remember who she was or even what she was, so I assumed that she was an AI. Over the next year my friends and I fought XANA, while I worked on getting Aelita into the real world, and I succeeded. The problem came when we tried to shut off the computer, and Aelita's connection to computer made it impossible to shut it down without killing her. After the summer I enrolled her at Kadic with name Aelita Stones, and we continued fighting XANA, while Aelita and I worked on severing her link with the computer. Her extended time on earth caused some of her memories to resurface, and one of her memories led us to Franz's diary. After we decrypted it with his help, we learned the truth about Aelita and that she was human all long. She was bound to the computer by what we thought was a computer virus, when in truth she was bound by her missing memories. When she went to retrieve her missing memories, XANA captured her and escaped his imprisonment in the computer. Franz revived Aelita and then disappeared. Over the next few years we continued fighting XANA and searching for her father, until a year ago when her father sacrificed himself to destroy XANA. After that we shut off the computer and everything returned to normal, until Aelita was abducted."

Jeremie concluded his story, and moved over to comfort Aelita. Micheal watched the two of them as he let the information process.

"So we're sitting in an abandoned secret government facility?" Micheal questioned Jeremie.

"You could say that."

"At least now I know why we couldn't reach your parents, and why Jeremie insisted so adamantly that you stay with us during school breaks." Jeremie's father remarked with a coy smile which earned a chuckle from Aelita and a blush from Jeremie.

"So now what are you two going to do?"

"I don't know." Jeremie glanced at Aelita and then continued. "But running for the rest of our lives is not at the top of the list."

"Well maybe your mother can help with that."

"Mom? How could mom help?"

"You remember that story we told about how we met."

"Yes."

"Do you remember how her friend owned the restaurant where we had our first date?"

"I guess so."

"Guess what the man does for a living now."

"I give up."

"Do you pay attention to anything in the news?"

"Of course I do."

"Who's the current prime minister?"

"It's... Wait. He's mom's friend?! Why didn't you tell me."

"He didn't want the press to bother us so he hasn't talked to us in person for a few years, and you probably don't remember him because you were four or five the last time he visited us."

"Do you think he'll help us?"

"I'm not sure, but first I have to call your mother." Micheal answered as he walked towards the elevator. "Oh, and the next time you two share a sleeping bag together, you better be engaged." He couldn't help but laugh as the two teens blushed crimson and looked away. He winked at them as the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.

"How did he know that?" Aelita asked Jeremie.

"I stopped trying to figure that out a long time ago." Jeremie replied, and then turned to face her. "It probably has something to do with blond and pink hairs on a black sleeping bag though." He continued as Aelita's expression softened in understanding.

"It's a parent thing isn't thing isn't it?" She questioned with a smile.

"Probably." Jeremie answered as he rubbed her back.


	8. Hôtel Matignon

**Chapter 8:Hôtel Matignon**

Marie Belpois exited the terminal and surveyed the crowd of travelers bustling around the atrium. After a moment's pause she navigated her way towards the stream of people filing through a pair of double glass doors. Finally out in the cool night air, she scanned the line of cars parked along the drive, and noticed a man with brown hair waving at her. She smiled and waved back as she pushed her way through the mass of people exiting the airport towards her husband. When she neared the car, he took the suitcase from her and stored it in the trunk. The two entered the car and he drove off into the night. As the car reached the entrance to the freeway, they passed a sign for L'Autoroute du Nord and Micheal turned into southbound entrance. A few minutes later they passed the exit for La Francilienne, but Micheal ignored the sign and continued along the road towards Paris.

"Um, honey. I think you missed our exit."

"No, we're not going home right now. There's something we need to take care of first."

"OK, but you could have told me. What is it?"

"Jeremie got himself into some trouble with the government."

"How did he manage that?"

"Aelita isn't who they said she was. Apparently the government has a grudge against her family."

"But she's from Canada..."

"Actually she's not. Both of her parents were French, and she has lived in France her entire life."

"Are they all right?"

"The police believe that they are both missing, and the government doesn't know where they are. So, yes, they are fine for now."

"Why is the government after them?"

"I'll let them explain that when we get there. By the way, do you still have the prime minister's cell number?"

"Yes, I do." She paused and turned to face him. "Why? You're not thinking of asking him for help. Are you?"

"What else are we going to do, Marie?" He responded without taking his eyes off the road.

"I don't know, but I'm not sure that he can do anything about it."

* * *

"Christophe, we need to talk." The man glanced towards the two body guards standing next to the door. "Alone."

"Of course, Mr. President. You two, wait in the hall and close the door."

As soon as the door clicked close, the president's calm composure shattered and the rage he had been hiding flashed across his face as he leaned over the desk towards Christophe.

"Why the hell did I find out about this from the press before my own staff even knew? And since when do we have a military installation in Fontainebleau?"

"I understand that we don't agree on a lot of political issues, but do you honestly think that I would make myself look like a complete idiot just for fun? I didn't know about the attack, and we don't have a military complex in Fontainebleau; so, calm down." Christophe shot back as he rose to his feet.

"Fine, but if we don't have a military complex there, where did all of these reports come from?"

"I have my staff investigating the facility as we speak. We believe that it might be some type of black-ops program. Even though the facility is highly classified, we still should have known about it. Hopefully we can find out why we weren't forewarned."

"Thank you, but on a side note I want to point out something. Do you remember those two kids that went missing a few days ago?"

"Yeah the two students from Kadic, right?"

"Yes. Normally, I wouldn't be paranoid about two missing kids, but their disappearance was only a few days before this incident."

"I'm sure it's nothing more than a coincidence, sir."

"You're probably right, but the boy had blond hair, and the girl had pink hair. These two people," the president tossed a newspaper on the desk, "also have the same hair colors."

"OK, you really are paranoid. So they have the same hair color, it doesn't make them the same people..."

"They are also the same heights as the people in the photo. And just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean that I'm wrong. I had one of my aids run a quick check on the missing kids, and it turns out that the missing girl was using a false identity."

Christophe let out a small chuckle. "Now you're making my staff look bad. Let's say you're right. If those two kids did attack this facility, then we have a serious threat on our hands. What are the names of the two children? I'll get one of my assistants to run a complete background check on them."

"The girl is 'Aelita Stones', and the boy is Jeremie Belpois."

Christophe blinked and then stared at the name he had just written down.

"Sir, you did say 'Jeremie Belpois', right?"

"Correct. Is something wrong?"

"I know him, sir. His parents were close friends of mine, but I haven't seen them in a few years because I didn't want to give the press any reason to bother them. Sophie?!"

A few seconds later the door clicked, and a middled aged woman popped her head inside.

"Yes, sir?"

"Can you please give this list of names to Alex. I need him to run background checks on them."

"I'll give it to him immediately. Is there anything else that you need sir?"

"No. Thank, you. I'll see you tomorrow, Sophie."

"Goodnight, sir." Sophie responded with a smile as she exited the room.

"You're leaving already?"

"No, Mr. President. Sophie only works the day shift. She'll be leaving in twenty minutes."

"Oh. So what are we going to do while we wait for the results?"

"I was going to call the Belpois and ask them what's happening. Hopefully, I can arrange for them to come here so we can talk to them in person."

"While you're calling them, I'll go touch base with my staff and see if any of them have found anything useful." The president informed Christophe as he walked out of the office.

* * *

"Thank, you. Call me as soon as you hear anything."

Grégoire replaced the handset, and slammed his fists into his desk.

"Careful, the desk might retaliate one day."

"What do you want, Mathis?"

"So, I take it that the two kids are still unaccounted for."

"Yes, and if we don't find them soon, you and I will be the ones who need to disappear."

"Mhmm. Wait... What?"

"This agency is being investigated. Our little fiasco earlier drew too much attention, and if we don't catch those kids first, we will be the ones answering questions."

"Well then it's too bad that we'll probably never find them just by searching for them. We'll have to draw them out somehow."

"There's only one thing we have that could possibly draw their attention..."

"Please tell me that you are not considering using her as bait."

"What else are we going do, Mathis? We're running out of time and options."

"Fine. So, the plan is that we transfer Antea from her current location to this building, and hope that the kids try to free her?"

"Yes. We will inject her with a subcutaneous tracker that the kids will not be able to detect. We'll have to make certain that Antea is also unaware of the tracker. The convoy will depart the detention facility at 09:00. Once the convoy is en route, the kids will attack the convoy, and our agents will meet the attack with a convincing level of resistance until we let the kids escape with Antea."

"Sounds better, but I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of simply handing over the lead programmer of the Carthage Project."

"Don't worry. We will monitor the tracker at all times, and if it becomes necessary we'll have our field agents neutralize the threat."

"So the gloves have finally come off? That's comforting."

"I don't like it either, but we cannot under any circumstances loose them again."

"Understood. Just one thing."

"Yes?"

"Where is the equipment manifest?"

* * *

The soft patter of footfalls echoed faintly off the concrete walls as Aelita continued her search of the room. The clatter of metal striking metal and a fleeing shadow caused her to sprint off towards the door at the far side of the room. As she approached the door she gave one final glance around the room, and continued towards the light. She cleared the door, and before she felt her feet leave the concrete she found herself laying face down on the cold floor. The sound of three gunshots overwhelmed the echoes from her fall, and Aelita grimaced as the rounds found their target. Her vision blurred and then refocused in an aerial view of the arena. She sighed as she watched her attacker check her pulse, and collect her weapons and her pack. The soldier turned and entered the room that she had left in her haste. Three feet into the room the soldier froze and spun to aim at one of the rafters, but relaxed when it detected no enemy, and turned to continue its search of room. Immediately after the soldier's gaze returned the far end of the room, a small section of pipe landed with huge clang a few feet behind the soldier who wheeled around to face the sound. Aelita gawked as a figure lunged from the rafters the soldier had abandoned searching and tackled the man to the ground. After a few seconds the figure rose to its feet and sprinted towards Aelita's corpse. The figure checked her pulse and shook his head. The scene faded to white and Aelita found herself standing next to Jeremie in front of a tactical breakdown of the training exercise. The screen displayed that all of the enemy soldiers had been eliminated in bright green, but directly beneath the message of success flashed a skull with Aelita's name emboldened next to it.

"Are you okay?"

Aelita turned to face the boy next to her.

"I'm fine, Jeremie. It's just a simulation."

"Are you sure? That's the fifth time in a row that you've been injured in one of the scenarios, and the second time that you were killed."

Aelita let a smile grace her lips as she grabbed his hand.

"Jeremie, I'm fine. You've died six times, and you're alright. Stop worrying."

"As you wish, Princess." Jeremie responded, with a small bow that earned a giggle from Aelita.

"So, what's next?"

"Well, we've been through all of the scenarios. Do you want try one of the... Um, Aelita, isn't that..."

Jeremie stopped mid-sentence and pointed at the screen. Aelita turned to face the display and quickly found what had made Jeremie speechless. Aelita took a step forward and placed her hand on the image.

"... my mom. We found her, Jeremie. We found her."

Jeremie walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist.

"It's definitely a trap, and we should avoid falling into at all costs..."

Aelita turned to face him with a gradually forming expression of hurt.

"But... Jeremie..."

Before Aelita could finish her protest, Jeremie placed his index finger on her lips.

"... However, I know how much your mother means to you, and I feel that if we have a chance to free her, we should take it."

"Thank, you."

"So, should we work on this here or in the real world?"

"Real world, please. We've been in here for over twelve hours, and I've already spent over ten years of my life in this computer."

"Aelita, we've only been in this simulation for a little more than half an hour. The computer simply runs this program twenty times faster than real-time. It only feels like it's been twelve hours because the program is simulating time here faster than it is actually passing."

"Stop. You're making my head hurt. Can we please just leave?"

"Sure thing, Aelita. I'm launching the devirtualization... now!"

Aelita watched as her hands transformed into a wire-frame and then disappeared entirely. A second later she found herself grasping onto the scanner door in an attempt to keep her knees from buckling under her weight. Her hand slipped and she felt her body collide with the cold floor of the scanner room. Groaning from the pain and fatigue coursing through her, she lifted her head slightly and peered towards Jeremie's scanner, but to her dismay found him laying unconscious in front of her.

"Jeremie? Wake up, Jeremie."

Concern now driving her forward, she dragged herself towards him and placed her index and middle against his neck. Finding a pulse, she moved her hand over his nose and mouth to check for signs that he was still breathing. Satisfied that he was simply exhausted, Aelita moved herself closer to him, wrapped her arms around him, and placed her head on his chest.

* * *

"I'll see what I can do Marie. Can you meet me here tomorrow at 10:00 AM? OK. You haven't spoken to your son recently have you? OK, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

"I thought her son was missing." Christophe muttered to himself as he hung up the phone.

"No, he's still reported as missing." replied Alex from the door way.

"What have I told about lurking around in the dark."

"'One of the guards might shoot first and ask questions later...' Don't worry you won't get rid of me that easily."

"So what have you found?"

"Some fairly deep stuff."

"How deep are we talking, Alex?"

Christophe watched as Alex shut the door and moved towards an empty chair in front of his desk. Alex sat down and placed a black box on the desk in front of him.

"So it's that bad, huh?"

"I'm afraid so. First off, whoever forged this girl's identity was good, and I mean really good. I had one of my friends at the Canadian consulate check her identification papers. He couldn't tell that they were fake, he even compared them side by side with a some real documents. They were perfect in every way. The computer system even listed her as a Canadian citizen and it had her false parents listed as well. He didn't know that the papers were fake until he called the office in Canada to pull out the paper copy of her file. In short there was no file because the file never existed. Whoever did this hacked our network and the Canadian network without leaving a trace. If whoever did this decided to become a white hat, I'd hire them hands down, but that's not why I brought the jammer. It's her real identity that you won't believe."

Alex handed Christophe a file bearing the seal of the DGSE.

"You're joking... Please, tell me that this is a joke."

"I'm not laughing... I'm shaking. This is the kind of stuff that causes people to disappear, and I had to hack into to their system to get this file."

"Relax, you work for me. You won't be disappearing unless I order it, understand."

"Fine, but for now I'd rather stick around here where it's harder for me to 'wander off', but let's move on. Where I found the folder is not the freaky part. Check it out for yourself."

Alex gestured towards the closed folder, and Christophe opened it. After a brief glance, Christophe returned his gaze to Alex.

"But this girl was born in 1982, and the girl that disappeared is only fifteen years old. It's clear from the photo that she's the person in this file, but it doesn't make any sense. How can a person just skip over a decade of their life?"

"Her natural hair color is pink..."

Christophe started to laugh.

"No it really is, read the file. You may think that all of this far fetched, but wait until you get to her parents. That's where all the crazy stuff starts."

Christophe returned to reading the file and after a few minutes he closed the folder and tossed it back to his desk.

"So you're telling me that this fifteen year old girl is really twenty-seven years old, her hair is naturally pink. she got her pink hair color from her mom, and that her parents both worked at Project Carthage?"

"That's what the file says. What's wrong?" Alex asked as Christophe rose from and chair and started pacing behind his desk.

"The people that this file describes are not criminals. They are victims. I've only heard of Project Carthage in passing before this, but never anything more than a name and vague hints that it was a colossal waste of funding. I voted to pass the bill that terminated the project, and here is the very same project that should have been long dead and buried biting us in the ass. The DGSE could've just left the girl alone, but no. They had to go after and now the after effects of the most classified government project in the past fifty years is on the front page of every newspaper, and the most debated event on the national news." Christophe sighed and walked back to his desk and pulled out his laptop. "Is that cellphone tracing program still on here?"

"It should be, you never asked me to remove it. I still can't believe you had me install that just so you could get even with that guy who kept calling you."

"He was flooding the line with stupid calls."

"You used it to track him down on his cellphone, and you decked him in the middle of a movie theater."

"He stopped calling didn't he."

"That wasn't my point. My point is that you take stuff way to personally. Take this whole incident for example. Why are you even investigating this? There are government employees who do this for a living, but instead of letting them handle it you are doing it yourself..."

"When I woke up this morning it wasn't personal. In fact it wasn't personal until my friends' child turned out to be involved. Trust me it got personal really fast."

"So how is your friend taking all this?"

"She sounded more confused than anything. It was almost as if the truth that her kid was missing hadn't quite sunk in yet. So, I just type in the phone number that I want to track, correct."

"Yup that's it. The program does the rest."

"Can you read me the number off the caller ID over there" Christophe pointed to phone on the opposite end of his desk.

"Sure thing... it's... wait... this your friend's number. Why do you want to track your friend?"

"She's talking to her son right now, and after what you just told me, I realized that this cannot wait until tomorrow."

"I'll just type it in then." Alex reached for the number for the pad on the keyboard and quickly entered the phone number.

"How do you know her number anyway?"

"You had me run a background check remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Okay, the program says that she is somewhere in the city and that it should a few minutes to triangulate her position." Alex informed Christophe.

"There we go. It isolated the three towers closest to her position. Will this work if I take the computer with me?"

"It should be fine since that machine has a satellite link."

"Okay then, I think it's time for a road trip."

One of the guards looked up from his newspaper and addressed Christophe.

"Um sir you can't do that. We have to stay here where we can provide adequate security."

"Very well, then I order you to the accompany me and Alex to the armory. You will not make any mention of this trip to anyone, and we will be taking an unmarked car."

"Why do I have to come, sir?" Alex asked.

"Because you are the only one in this room that has half decent computer skills. What if there is computer and I need information off of it?"

"Fine, but for the record this is a bad idea."

"You are not leaving this building sir. It's our job to protect you, not to let you get yourself killed or captured."

"I am going, you can either come with me or stay here, but I am going." Christophe retorted as he slung the laptop bag over his shoulder, and walked out of the door.

"I guess we better follow them." The other guard said as he followed Alex towards the armory.

"Not much else we could do is there?"

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't. Let's just hope that nothing happens, and no-one finds out that we were involved."

"Amen to that."

* * *

"Alright, thank you Chris. We'll see you in the morning. Huh? No, but I'm about to... OK, bye."

Maire ended the call and returned the phone to her purse.

"So is he going to help us?"

"He said he would do what he could. Right now we seem to know a lot more about the situation than he does. He wants to meet with us at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

"That's fine. So are you ready to talk with them?"

"I guess... I'm so confused I'm not sure if I should be angry at them for messing up so badly or happy that they are alright."

"You left out being disappointed that they didn't tell us sooner." Michael added with a small smile.

"Yeah I guess you're right. I should at least let them try to explain everything before I start deciding how to react."

"Well we're here." Michael pointed towards the building looming darkly against the city lights reflecting off the river.

"It doesn't look like a state-of-the-art top-secret government facility."

"Looks can be deceiving."

Michael slowed the car to 10 kph and turned onto the bridge leading into the old factory. At the building entrance he turned the car to the right and drove along the ledge above the factory floor towards the vehicle ramp that lead down onto the main level. Now that the car was on the same level as the lift entrance Michael guided the car under the ledge directly across from the elevator door and turned of the ignition.

"Let's go meet the kids." He muttered to himself as he climbed out of the car and walked towards the elevator. "Come on, Marie. Don't you want to embarrass Jeremie in front of Aelita some more." He said with a laugh.

"Sounds like a good start." She replied as she stepped in to the elevator with him.

Michael pressed the up button on the elevator and the thirty year old lift whirred to life. After a few seconds the doors opened revealing a mostly empty room with a computer terminal in the center, and a holographic projection displaying what appeared to be a rotating map of the factory with two blinking red dots and two solid green dots. Marie's eyes widened when she realized exactly what she was seeing. Michael smiled at her awe, and pressed the up button again.

"Maybe they're on the next floor."

"How many floors are there?"

"Just three, but it's more than enough as they'll tell you. Maybe this time they'll even show us."

Marie simply nodded as the doors closed and the elevator proceeded to the next floor.

"How did Jeremie even find this place?"

"He decided to go exploring one day when he was bored at school..."

The doors opened revealing the two teenagers asleep in each others arms.

A grin found it's way to Marie face and her eyes lit up with a idea.

"Aww... they look so cute..." She whispered as she fumbled in her purse for her camera.

"What are you... Oh." Michael realized as she pulled the camera out her purse and crept towards her prey. "They're going to hate you. You do know that right."

"Oh yes. Especially when I 'accidentally' give it to their friends."

"Haha, now that I want to see..." He stopped as the flash from the camera lit up the entire room, and two pairs of eyes shot open. "... maybe you should have turned the flash off, honey."

"Mom? Dad? How long have you been here?"

"Long enough..." Mrs. Belpois taunted as she waved the camera in front of them.

Aelita let out a chuckle at the taunt. "Didn't you tease us enough the last time I stayed over at your house?"

"Please. We're his parents, it's our job to embarrass him every chance we get." Michael responded with a smile.

"So I guess you're here for an explanation." Jeremie responded as Aelita rolled off him and sat up to face his parents. "What time is it anyway?"

"It's eleven forty-nine..." replied his mom.

"In the morning?" asked Aelita.

"At night." his father finished.

"Why couldn't you just come back in the morning?"

"Because your mother deserves to know what is happening now, Jeremie. And if it's not too much to ask, could you show us what LYOKO is like this time."

Jeremie glanced towards Aelita, and she nodded her head.

"How about we explain this while we're on LYOKO." Aelita offered.

"Sounds like a plan... So where is LYOKO?" Marie asked.

"Dad, you get in that scanner, and, mom, you get in this one. I'll virtualize you and join you after that." He instructed as Aelita made her way to the middle scanner. "Aelita will be with you."

"Are you sure this a good idea?"

"Relax, Mrs. Belpois. We've done this hundreds of times, and it works 99.5 of the time."

Michael's smile dropped. "What about the other half of a percent?"

"Nothing to worry about." Jeremie responded over the intercom. "It won't happen."

"Wow, that's real comforting, Jeremie."

"Well it's too late now. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Dad. Transfer Mom."

"Hey! Jeremie!"

"Stop banging on the scanner doors. They are supposed to close. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Dad. Scanner Mom. Virtualization."

"We made it Jeremie, but I'm in my old outfit."

"That's fine, I figured that the old style was probably better than... well you know why. You still have all the abilities you had in your new form though."

"Yeah. I noticed that I still had the bracelet."

"OK, I've started the delayed virtualization."

"OK, Jeremie. I'll see you in a minute."

"See you in a minute, Aelita."

* * *

"Alright the trace has triangulated her position to 48.823212 degrees North by 2.233765 degrees West." Alex informed the agent driving the car.

"For those of us who don't speak GPS, could you please give us a street address?" Christophe called from the back seat.

"Oh, sorry. That's... hmm... it doesn't have an address... Hold on a second."

"If it's in the city it has an address. Can you at least tell him what street it's on?"

"Sure. We are presently on D910 heading towards the Seine correct?"

"Yes."

"OK, take the N10 exit towards Saint-Cloud and turn left onto Rue Troyon. Follow that for one kilometer."

"Affirmative."

"What I don't understand is why the address isn't appearing on the trace..."

"Don't worry about it Alex. We'll find out why soon enough."

"It would be nice to know before we got there... Hey that's interesting."

"What's interesting?"

"I figured out why I couldn't find an address."

"Why?"

"I couldn't find the address, because it doesn't exist. According to our own records there is nothing at that location except water, but here's the good part. Recent satellite imagery shows that there is island on the river at this point that contains what appears to be a factory..."

"It's the old Renault automobile factory. It closed down in the early 90's. Are you positive that it's not on the map?" Asked the agent sitting next the Christophe.

"I am more than 100 certain that it is not on any of the maps that I have looked at. How do you know about it?"

"I lived in this area when I was a kid. It was hard not to notice a factory that covered an entire island. I remember always wondering what kind of machinery and stuff they had inside. The weird thing is that I don't remember ever seeing any cars leave the factory."

"Well here's your chance to find out, Will." Christophe offered. "How much longer is it going to be, Sean?"

"We should be on site in a minute or so, sir. If you look out of your window you should be able to see the island."

* * *

"Now I know why Odd and Ulrich gave you such a hard time about how you looked here." Aelita greeted Jeremie as a smile appeared on her face. "You look like a blue version of me."

"Yup, but with a bow and and a quiver of arrows, and without the earing or your creativity ability."

"Your weapon is a bow and arrow? No wonder the mega tanks gave you trouble."

"Stupid thing rolled me over before I could reload..." Jeremie muttered darkly. "Where are my parents?"

"Over there by the tower. I think they're still getting used the lack of touch, taste, and smell."

"Great... Let's get this over with." Jeremie replied as he began walking towards the tower.

"We should talk to them in the tower so that we can monitor the factory as well."

"Good idea, princess." As he approached the tower he heard voices on the other side. "Mom? Dad?"

"Jeremie? Where are you?"

"I'm on the other side of the tower, mom."

The two adults emerged from behind the tower and approached them.

"So are you two ready to explain this to your mother?"

"Yes, but we'll do it inside the tower."

"Now is not the time for jokes, Jeremie."

"Aelita could you show them, please?"

Aelita let out a sigh. "No, Jeremie. I am not your personal assistant. Show them yourself." She responded while pointing at the tower.

"Aelita, I didn't mean it like that."

Aelita gave no response and continued pointing at the tower. Jeremie let out a sigh and obeyed. "Whatever happened to the days when I had a spine." he silently thought as he transitioned through the tower wall. Jeremie's father let out a low whistle as he followed suit and walked through.

"I wish I could still order him around like that." Marie whispered to Aelita with a smile as she passed by.

Aelita's expression faded into a smile as she turned to follow Marie into the tower. "I have my methods." Aelita replied.

"We all do." Marie responded with a wink just before she entered the tower.

Aelita's smile broadened as she found Jeremie's parents gazing around at the inside of the tower.

"Is it just me, or is the inside of the tower..." Michael started.

"... bigger than the outside. Don't worry because you're not crazy. The inside of the tower is bigger than the outside." Aelita finished.

"But how is that possible?" Maire asked.

"This is only a computer program, mom. The laws physics in this place are whatever we want them to be. In short the rules are what we make them."

"The tower can be different sizes on the inside and outside because as far as the computer is concerned they don't overlap." Aelita added.

"I guess when you take time to think about it, it's actually kind of fascinating." Michael commented.

"Okay I'm ready. Aelita can you help me?"

"Sure Jeremy."

Jeremy stepped to the right side of the terminal and Aelita moved the left side. They both grabbed the corners of the panel on their side and began to stretch it. When it was about two meters wide and a little bit more then one meter high, they stopped and let go of the corners and moved in front of the screen.

"OK, do you want the short version or the full version?" Jeremie asked.

"Short version, please. You can give me all of the details later." Marie responded.

"Aelita's parents worked for the DGSE on a project called Carthage." As he spoke images of Aelita's parents appeared on the screen and transitioned into blue prints and images of the factory as he continued to speak. "Carthage was a military project aimed at the creation of system for the rapid transport of troops and supplies across the internet. In one of the early system tests a scanner malfunctioned while Antea, Aelita's mother, was inside. A week later Antea and Waldo resigned their positions and moved away. The accident changed Antea's natural hair color from red to pink. When Aelita was born she gained her mother's pink hair. When Aelita was five the government abducted her mother in an attempt to get her father to resume his work on the project. Waldo fled with Aelita, and assumed the alias of 'Franz Hopper' under which he taught at Kadic Academy until 1994. In 1994, Franz fled from government agents into LYOKO with Aelita where they were attacked by a virus named XANA. Franz was forced to shutdown the computer to prevent XANA from spreading. During my freshman year at Kadic I discovered the supercomputer, and I turned it back on. My friends and I fought XANA while I worked on freeing Aelita. We managed to free Aelita, but her father gave his life to destroy XANA. After he died, we shut off the computer, and our lives returned to normal until Aelita was abducted. I reactivated the computer and used it's resources to aid in freeing Aelita from her captors. And right now as we speak they are still attempting locate us. Half an hour ago the computer picked up a prisoner transfer order for Antea Schaeffer. Tomorrow Aelita and I are going to intercept the convoy and hopefully free her mother."  
"I can honestly say that if I was standing here I wouldn't have believed anything that you just said. I just want to know why you didn't ask for our help sooner?"

"Mom, I didn't ask for your help because at time there wasn't anything you could have done."

"Fair enough, but is there anyway that I can talk you out of attacking that convoy?"

"No, there isn't. We'll be fine, mom."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?"

"Mom, I'll be fine."

"What if you get shot?"

"He's already been shot." Michael interrupted.

"What?!"

"He got shot in the shoulder while we were escaping." Aelita offered.

"Wait... so that was you in the news?"

"Yes, mom, but I'm fine now. I don't even have a scratch."

"If I had a Euro for every time..."

"Except that he's telling the truth." Aelita interrupted. "I used the scanners to heal him."

Maire opened her mouth to protest, but an alarm from the terminal caused both Aelita and Jeremie to turn towards the screen.

"What was that?" Michael asked.

"It was the perimeter alarm. Apparently four people just began crossing the bridge..."

"...and they are all armed with assault rifles." Aelita finished as she pulled up the CCTV feed.

"We weren't followed Jeremie, I made sure. I even drove around for an hour before coming here." Michael informed Jeremie.

"You turned off your cell phones right?"

"Mine has been off all day. Marie?"

Marie simply stared at the floor.

"Mom did you turn off your cell phone before you came here?"

"I... I don't remember."

"Wonderful. Come on, Aelita. We need to go welcome our guests."

"What about us?"

"Just stay in this tower and you'll be fine. Here..." Jeremie pulled up grid of video thumbnails on the screen next to the video feed. "You can keep an eye on things from here. Just press on a thumbnail to see it full size. If, for whatever reason, you absolutely need to leave before Aelita and I can bring you back push this red button in the bottom right corner of the screen."

"OK, Jeremie be careful."

"You're just going to let them go, Michael?"

"Marie, what other choice do we have?"

"We should go with them, and..."

"... and do what, Marie? We don't have any weapons. We don't know how to fight. Aelita and Jeremie have weapons and they have body armor. They've done this before and they are still alive."

"I know but I still don't like it."

"I'll take care him, Mrs. Belpois. I give you my word."

* * *

"This a seriously bad idea, Chris."

"Shut up, or wait in the van." Christophe hissed back at Alex.

"I could render him unconscious if you want, sir?" Will whispered.

"Shutting up, now." Alex whispered as he made a zipping gesture.

The four men continued their advance towards the factory entrance in silence while listening and watching for any signs of movement. The men reached the edge of the ledge and surveyed the scene before them.

"I'll descend first. You three cover me." Christophe instructed his companions.

"Absolutely out of the question. You don't have any combat training experience."

"Sargent Batiste is a prickly SOB. Isn't he, Will."

"How do you know my old drill Sargent's name?"

"When he was my drill Sargent he wasn't quite as old, but he was still prickly."

"Fine you can go first, but I'm coming with you."

"Fair enough. I guess that means you two will cover our backs."

Christophe grabbed a rope and wrapped it around his arm before grabbing it tightly in his gloved hand.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Christophe and Will stepped off from the ledge and spun around to face under the ledge as they descended to factory floor.

"Well it looks like we're in the right place." Christophe muttered to Will.

Will nodded and glanced up towards Sean. "We have one vehicle. Ground level appears clear."

"Affirmative, we'll proceed down now." Sean whispered back as he nudged Alex and pointed to the ropes.

The men climbed down the ropes hand over hand and joined their comrades on the floor.

"So now where do we go?" Christophe asked Alex.

"The signal isn't strong enough to get a better lock, but if I had to guess, I'd say we should take the elevator."

"Any particular reason?"

"This factory is on an island in the middle of the river right?"

"Thank, you Captain Obvious."

"My point is... Why does that elevator only go down?" Alex stated he pointed towards the lift.

The other three men turned to face the elevator and they immediately realized that he was right.

"OK, you have a point. Let's go check it out."

When the men were four meters from the lift door, two masked figures emerged from behind the elevator with their weapons raised.

"Identify yourselves!" The commando on the right ordered.

"Lower weapons or we will fire!" Will, shouted in response.

"Identify yourselves! Now!" the soldier repeated.

Will raised his rifle to his shoulder, but Christophe put his hand up and lowered his rifle.

"Aren't you a little young... and short... to be soldiers?" Christophe questioned their opponents.

"Identify yourself, or I will fire. This is your last chance."

"My name is Chris."

The guard lowered his weapon slightly. "Chris... short for Christophe. Correct?"

Christophe placed his rifle on the ground and stepped toward the figure.

"Yes. Jeremie, put the gun the down." Christophe answered as he raised his hands.

The figure glanced toward his partner and removed his mask as he turned back to face Christophe.

"Where did my mother meet my father?"

"They met at my restaurant, Jeremie." Christophe answered as he lowered his hands and walked over to Jeremie.

Jeremie lowered his weapon. "It's alright Aelita. He's the prime minister."

Christophe watched as the other guard lowered her weapon and removed her mask to reveal pink hair. The men behind Christophe followed suit and lowered their rifles while they followed Christophe forward.

"Jeremie, where are your parents?"

"I'll take you to them in a second, but first I want to know why you of all people traced my mom's cell, and why you came here with only two body guards and your computer technician." Jeremie asked, as he pointed at the three men behind him.

"I'm a white hat, not a technician. How did you know any way?"

"You've obviously never used a rifle before. The safety is still on." Aelita indicated as she pointed at the orange dot above the trigger on Alex's gun.

"So you obviously didn't come here to protect Chris. Oh, and you have a laptop case slung over your shoulder." Jeremie pointed at the black bag hanging by his side.

"That obvious, huh?"

"I followed your mom because Alex found some information about Aelita after I talked to your mom, and I needed to talk with her sooner than I had told her."

"We know." Jeremie held up a PDA with the first page of Aelita's file displayed on it's screen. "The computer detected that the file had been accessed. Which means that the DGSE probably knows that Alex hacked their system as well." Jeremie smiled when he saw Alex wince at his last sentence. "Don't worry Alex. They haven't found us, they won't find you. Now please tell me that you were all smart enough to turn off your radios, cell phones and any other devices that can be traced?"

"This laptop has a secure satellite data link... it is guaranteed to be untraceable, it's even been tested..."

"Shut it off now, before I shut it off!!!" Jeremie yelled as he raised his rifle at the computer.

"OK. OK. I'm turning it off. There it's off." Jeremie lowered his weapon.

"Is there anything else?"

"No that was it."

"Is your vehicle LoJacked?"

"No, I made certain that we picked one without it installed." Christophe replied.

"Good, now if the DGSE didn't trace your satellite connection, we should be safe. Come on I'll take you..." Jeremie stopped as the lift began descending. "... or not. It looks like they're coming to us."

The elevator returned and his parents stepped out into the cool night air.

"I thought we were going to meet tomorrow."

"The situation has changed, I only found out after I talked to you."

"You could have called or left a message. You didn't have to stalk me."

"Well I'm here so let's talk."

"Fair enough."

"Before we do anything else, you need to move your vehicle in here. It will be light outside in a few hours, and, trust me, we don't need anyone reporting a parked vehicle outside this building."

"Alright. Sean?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Move the van down here."

"I'll guide him down." Michael offered.

"But, sir, ..."

"Don't worry about me, Sean. I've still got Will, and now I have two additional body guards. Right, kids?" Jeremie and Aelita nodded in response to his question. "Ease up a little, Sean. No-one outside of this group knows that I am here."

"Fine, I'll move the car."

"Thank, you. Now you two." Christophe turned to face the two kids. "What is Project Carthage?"

Jeremie turned to Aelita and mouthed something to her. From his angle it looked like Jeremie said "your turn", and he figured he was right when she spoke.

"We're standing in it."

"Ah. That would explain why this place isn't on any maps." Alex interrupted.

"Damn. And I thought this place really was a car factory." Will muttered as he gazed around the area.


	9. Fugitives

**Chapter 9:Fugitives**

"Are you okay, Chris?" Jeremie asked the man standing in front of him.

The prime minister turned to face him, and nodded. "I'm fine. It's just a little overwhelming."

"That's understandable." Aelita said with a smile. "We're still finding information about Project Carthage."

"I hate to interrupt, sir, but we need to leave while it's still dark."

"Relax, Sean. We still have ninety minutes until sunrise." Will interrupted.

"Thanks for the reminder." Christophe glanced at his two body guards and returned his attention to the two kids before him. "You two are not going to attack that convoy." He informed them as if he was talking about the weather.

"Why not?" Aelita asked as Jeremie put his hand on her shoulder.

"Because Jeremie's parents don't want either of you to go..."

"This may be the only chance we have to free my mother. We're..." Aelita interrupted him while Jeremie remained silent.

"Let me finish my sentence." Christophe stated as he cut her off. "You are not attacking that convoy because you are coming with me. You," Christophe pointed at Jeremie, " are going to get me a prisoner release order for Antea Schaeffer which I am going to sign. We are going to drive to the holding facility and retrieve her. You two will remain in the vehicle, and stay out of sight. Once we have her mother, we will return to my office and meet your parents."

"Thank you, sir, and I'm sorry for cutting you off." Aelita apologized.

"It's fine. Just make sure that you don't do that when we're at my office." Christophe replied with a smile.

"I'll go get that form." Jeremie informed Christophe as he walked over to the computer terminal.

Christophe turned to face his two body guards. "No objections? This is new."

"We decided that at this point it would be useless to complain." Will responded.

"Good. Where's Alex?"

"He went looking around the factory..." Sean replied.

"I'll find him." Aelita stated as she stepped into the elevator.

The elevator doors closed and Christophe walked over to Jeremie.

"So how long will this take?"

"It's already done. I canceled the transfer and entered the release order. I also made certain that the DGSE is not aware of the change. The form is in the middle scanner."

"I'll go get it."

Jeremie turned the chair to face Christophe. "Thank you for helping us."

Christophe smiled and turned to begin walking towards the ladder. "Don't thank me yet."

* * *

Mathis glanced up from the map on his desk as Grégoire tossed a satellite image to him.

"I need you to take a team and secure this building."

"That's not a problem, but why?"

"A secure government data link was traced to this location just before it disconnected. We also traced a cell phone belonging to Marie Belpois to this same location. Satellite surveillance detected two vehicles enter the building and then depart."

"This looks familiar... What building is this?"

"Actually that building doesn't officially exist, but I'm reasonably certain that it is the former location of Project Carthage."

"Hmm... Talk about a small world..." Mathis pointed to house in the middle of the woods near the factory.

"Yeah, that's the hermitage, and this," Grégoire pointed at a nearby school, "is Kadic Academy. That's why I'm sending you. Call me as soon as you get there."

* * *

Sean slowed the van as the guard raised his hands and motioned for him to stop the vehicle.

"Orders and Identification." The guard requested as two more men began inspecting the vehicle.

"We are here to escort a released prisoner." Sean replied as he handed him the release order and his security badge.

"Secret Service. Why are you here to escort a prisoner?"

"That's classified."

"This entire facility is classified. Now explain..." The guard paused and looked over at the two men who were now behind van. "I'm going to need all of you to step out of the vehicle."

"I don't think you understand the situation..." Sean started to say.

"I said to get out of the vehicle, and that means now." As he spoke, more guards arrived at the gate and began surrounding the vehicle with their weapons raised.

The four men exited the van with their rifles in hand and turned to face the guard.

"Open the rear doors." The guard instructed as he evaluated the weapons that the passengers were carrying. Sean glanced at Christophe and reluctantly walked to the rear of the van and unlocked the rear doors. The two guards flung the doors open as Sean stepped to the side and watched.

"You." The commander pointed at Christophe. "What is behind the tarp?"

"You really don't want to know..." Christophe answered.

The commander turned to face the guards behind the van and nodded. The two men grabbed the tarp and tore it down to reveal Jeremie and Aelita facing the guards with their rifles raised. Jeremie shook his head to the driver side of the van, and they escorted the two men around to face the other guards.

"Threatening the Prime Minister of France is a treasonable offense." Aelita stated as she and Jeremie shot the two guards, and aimed their weapons at the commander.

Will stepped towards the commander. "You asked why the Secret Service was escorting a prisoner. We are escorting the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister," Will pointed at Christophe, " wants the prisoner released. Now you have two options. Bring us the prisoner, or we will get the prisoner ourselves. I would also suggest that you order your men to lower their weapons because if they don't Sean and I will have to do our jobs." Will finished as he raised his rifle slightly.

The commander nodded and motioned for his men to lower their rifles. "I'm sorry, Mr. Prime Minister. I assumed that your ID was fake since it would be extremely unlikely for you to show up in person with only three body guards." The commander then glanced at Jeremie and Aelita. "Why are they with you? Do you realize that I have orders to arrest and detain them on sight? How do I know that they aren't forcing you to release this prisoner?"

"So you want proof that they aren't influencing me against my will. Here's your proof." Christophe turned to face the two kids. "Turn off your shields."

"Make him order his snipers to stand down first." Jeremie replied as he glanced at the commander.

"All sniper teams stand down. Code yellow." The commander ordered over his radio, and turned to face the two children.

Aelita and Jeremie glanced at the guards that still surrounded the gate and deactivated their shields.

"Good. Sean? Will? Shoot them."

"What?!" Jeremie and Aelita shouted as Sean and Will fired at them with their new rifles.

Alex looked at the two unconscious teenagers and then turned to face Christophe. "They give us new weapons that are more advanced than anything else on this planet, and the first thing that you do with these rifles is to shoot the two people who gave them to you. How ironic is that?"

"Now is not the time, Alex. Sean? Will? put them back in the van." Christophe turned to face the commander. "Bring me the prisoner. Now!"

"Yes, sir! You two!" The guard pointed at the two men nearest to the gate. "Bring the prisoner out here, and you." He pointed to a third man. "Get two stretchers out here, so we can move these men inside."

Will returned from moving Jeremie into the van, and walked up next to Christophe. "The poor man looks terrified of you."

"I'm sure he is."

"So how are you going to explain this to the boy's parents?"

"I'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Christophe looked up as two of the guards returned escorting a woman with pink hair towards him.

"Are you Antea Schaeffer?"

"Do you know anyone else with naturally pink hair?" Antea shot back with a glare.

"Will, uncuff her." Christophe took a few steps closer. "First off, I'm not your enemy. In fact, I just ordered your release. Secondly, I do know someone else with pink hair. And finally, I think there is someone in the van that you'll be glad to see."

* * *

"What's new?" Mathis asked the man on the other end of the call.

"Get out your PDA. The factory is no longer your destination. I need you to intercept a vehicle."

"OK. I have my PDA out."

"The satellite feed should appear on your screen in a few seconds."

"Got it. What is the vehicle's destination, sir?"

"We believe that the vehicle is heading to Hôtel Matignon. Jeremie, Aelita, and Antea are all in that vehicle, along with four armed men. Report back when you've captured them."

"Yes, sir." Mathis returned the phone to his pocket and signaled for the driver's attention. "Change of plans. We've been ordered to intercept a vehicle that poses a threat to the security of the Prime Minister. We need to go east and cut off their approach. There is no longer any need for remaining inconspicuous, and I am ordering you to pursue the target as fast as these vehicles can go."

"Isn't that a little risky, sir. The traffic has been slowly thickening since we left headquarters."

"Drive on the shoulder. I don't really care how you get us there; just get us there. We need to stop that van."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"United Airlines flight 45 to Dulles International Airport is now boarding at gate 4 in terminal 1."

William ignored the announcement and continued his trek towards the RER B station for terminal 2. As he passed by an Air France kiosk, a news flash on one of the screens behind the counter caught his attention. The screen displayed video of three black SUVs weaving through the early morning traffic. Underneath the aerial view of the freeway, the station banner displayed "High Speed Chase". William watched the screen for a few seconds but shrugged it off as he turned and continued his walk towards the rail station. In the mezzanine of the depot William paused and scanned the area for the sign indicating which direction he should head to board the train into the city. As he was surveying the area, a poster on the wall caught his attention. At first he thought the flier was just an advertisement, but as he got closer he realized that it was actually a missing persons poster for Jeremie and Aelita. "Why doesn't anyone tell me these things?" he muttered to himself as he turned and walked towards the main platform where the next train was scheduled to arrive. He glanced at the schedule board hanging on the wall on the opposite side of the rails as he pulled out his phone and sat down on one of the benches along the platform. He wanted answers and he wasn't going to wait until he got to Kadic.

* * *

Antea smiled warmly at the girl who slept peacefully with her head resting in Antea's lap. After all of those years without even a glimpse of the outside world, she was free and could finally see her daughter again. The girl shifted in her sleep and nuzzled her head against Antea. Aelita murmured something, but Antea couldn't make out the words. She lifted her gaze towards the men in the front of the van. Ever since they had picked her up from the prison and she had seen Aelita asleep in the back seat, something had been nagging at the back of her mind. She turned to the man whom she had assumed to be the leader because he appeared to be the only one issuing orders to the others.

"What day is it?"

The man shifted uncomfortably in his chair and turned to face her.

"I think it would be better if Aelita answered that question when she wakes up..."

"It's a simple question. Can you please just answer me?"

The man's expression fell. "She really is her mother," he thought silently to himself as he let out a low sigh. "Today is Wednesday, November 25, 2009."

Antea nodded her head in acknowledgment, and Christophe silently turned to face forward.

"Wait..."

Will turned to face out of his window in an attempt to hide the smirk forming on his face. He had seen Christophe cringe, and he had decided that he definitely did not want to get involved in the swiftly approaching verbal assault. He watched cautiously out of the corner of his eye as Chris slowly turned to face Antea.

"If it's really 2009... Shouldn't..." Antea glanced down at Aelita, and Will cupped his hands over his ears. Christophe noticed Will's actions and immediately paled as he realized what was about to happen.

"What the hell did you do to my daughter?!" Antea roared as she glared at Christophe. Alex flinched at the sudden outburst, and Aelita stirred awake in Antea's lap. Will, however, broke out into a laughing fit as he watched Christophe, the Prime Minister of France, silently open and close his mouth as he attempted to think of a response. Chris turned and glared at Will who immediately stopped laughing and found that the striped lane marker outside of his window had become incredibly fascinating. Christophe returned his attention to Antea and met her gaze.

"I... We didn't do anything to your daughter..."

"Except shoot me!" Aelita interrupted as she slapped Will across the back his head.

"What the hell was that for?! I'm not the one who shot you!"

"No, but you shot Jeremie, and Sean is driving the van."

Will muttered something under his breath, and returned his attention to the traffic outside the van.

"Aelita?" Chris called for her attention.

"And you!" Aelita turned to face Chris. "You told them to shoot us! What..."

"Stop!" Chris interrupted her.

"What?!" Aelita seethed.

"I don't care, and I don't want to hear it. Your mother is sitting next to you, and she has some questions for you. So, shut up, sit down, and talk to her, Aelita. No 'ands', 'ifs', or 'buts' about it. Understand?" Christophe finished and turned to face forward.

Aelita balled her fists, growled, and crossed her arms as she sat down and scowled at the back of Christophe's seat. Her death glare faltered as she felt a hand rest softly on her shoulder, and she turned to face the person next to her. Her expression softened and she embraced her mom.

"I missed you, mom."

"I'm sorry I was gone for so long, sweetie." Antea replied as she tightened her hug on Aelita.

"It's OK, mom. I don't blame you. I'm just happy to have you back."

"Me too. Me too."

* * *

"Everyone, listen up."

The men in the SUV turned to face Mathis, and he continued.

"We have five minutes until we reach the intercept point. We will force them off the road and surround the vehicle. We want these people alive, but if they leave you no choice you do have shoot-to-kill authorization. They must not escape. Any questions?"

"How are they armed?"

"That information is not available but we suspect that they have assault rifles and that they may also be wearing body armor."

* * *

"Where's your father?"

Aelita shifted uncomfortably next to Antea, and looked at her feet.

"He's dead, mom."

Antea's smile fell and she looked away.

"How did he die?"

"He..." The memory flashed through Aelita's mind, and she felt tears roll down her face. "He died protecting the world from his mistakes."

"Mistakes? Aelita, what are you talking about?"

"He created a computer virus to stop Project Carthage, but it got out of control. He died destroying the virus before it could launch an all out war against the human population."

Antea nodded and turned to face Aelita. "What happened to you?"

Aelita turned to face her mom. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you look so young? You should be as old Alex there."

Aelita smirked as she heard Alex pause in his typing for a few seconds and then continue softly typing.

"It's a long story, mom. I'll see if I can get Jeremie..." Aelita paused as a PDA landed in her lap. Puzzled she picked it up and noticed that a recording of the explanation that she and Jeremie had given to his parents was playing on screen. She advanced the video to the point where they explained about LYOKO and handed the PDA to her mom. "This should explain the current situation. I need to go talk to a certain blond haired genius."

Antea smiled at Aelita and looked down at the PDA. "You wouldn't happen to be in love with said boy would you?"

Aelita blushed and looked back at her mom. "How did you know?"

"I'm your mom, Aelita. I've been in love before. Now go cuddle with your boyfriend." Antea replied with a wink.

"Mom!"

Will started snickering, but stopped when he saw the reflection of Aelita's glare in the window. Aelita climbed over the seat and moved over to Jeremie.

"When were you going to tell me that you were awake?"

"I would have told you sooner, but I wanted to give you a chance to talk with your mom. I'm glad you finally found her."

"Yes, but now we have to deal with her as well as your parents."

Jeremie's face paled. "I forgot about that... She's not going to kill me. Is she?"

"That would depend on what you've done to my daughter." Antea interrupted with a smile and then turned back to the video on the PDA. Jeremie shivered as several graphic visions of his death at Antea's hands played out in his mind. Aelita placed her hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at her face.

"Don't worry. She's just teasing you, Jeremie. At least I think she is." Aelita replied with a smile.

"Haha. Very funny." Jeremie replied as he rolled his eyes. Aelita stuck her tongue out, and Jeremie responded by pulling her down into his lap. "I'm glad you're alright." He said and kissed her on the cheek.

"If you're going to kiss her, kiss her like you mean it."

Jeremie and Aelita blushed and turned to find Antea watching them.

"Something tells me that your mom and my mom are going get along very well." Jeremie whispered to Aelita as he rapped his arm around her.

"The only question is whether or not that is a good thing." Aelita whispered back as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

* * *

William ended the call and returned the phone to his pocket as his train arrived at the station. Odd had explained the situation to him, but, as Odd had warned him, it didn't make much sense. He paused in his thoughts as he boarded the train and began searching for a seat. After finding a seat five rows from the door he put his bag down and continued thinking about the situation. He understood why the others hadn't told him, and he didn't blame them. He was actually glad that they hadn't called him, it would have just made his mood worse. Loosing his grandfather was bad enough, and they hadn't wanted to burden him with more bad news. William sighed and glanced out of the window as the doors hissed shut and the train started moving. He thought that maybe, if he was lucky, he would run into one of them, but he quickly dismissed the notion. The way his luck had been going lately he would be happy if today was just a normal day with no more bad news.

* * *

"Sir, we have a problem: left lane, half a kilometer behind us."

"What is it?" Christophe asked.

"Looks like three black SUVs, and they are approaching fast." Sean replied.

"Alex, pull up a satellite image." Christophe ordered.

Alex nodded in acknowledgment, and he began typing faster on the notebook computer. Will unfastened his seatbelt and climbed past Antea into the back of the van, and Antea looked up from the PDA when she noticed Will climbing past her.

"What's wrong?"

"We're being followed."

"Do you know who it is?"

"No, but it's probably the same people that are after you and your daughter."

"Mom?"

Will and Antea turned to face Aelita.

"Give me the PDA, maybe I can find out who is following us."

"Sure, sweetie."

Antea handed the PDA to Will, and he tossed it to Aelita as he walked by her on his way to the back of van. When he reached the rear window, he grabbed one of the assault rifles off the rack next to him, checked the magazine, and chambered a round. He placed the weapon on the floor and peered out of the window. Within a few seconds he saw the approaching vehicles. "They are about 200 meters away, sir." Immediately after he had given the status update, he felt the van swerve into the left lane, and he could hear the engine struggling as Sean pushed the van to 150 kph. He turned to Jeremie, and pointed at a box under the back seat. "Hand me that box." Jeremie nodded and slid the box over to Will. He grabbed the package and hurriedly pulled out the binoculars. He turned back to the window and held the binoculars up to his eyes. After adjusting the zoom and the focus, Will surveyed the pursuing vehicles and then dropped the binoculars around his neck. "Things are about to get a lot worse. The first vehicle has 8 men with assault rifles and body armor, and I can't see the other three vehicles." He turned to Jeremie and Aelita. "You two need to get yourselves strapped in now." The two teens nodded and climbed into the back seat next to Antea, and fastened their seatbelts. Will returned his attention to the approaching vehicles and his eyes widened in shock. The lead vehicle had closed the gap and was accelerating in an attempt to hit the van. "Now would be a good time to go faster, Sean."

"The van is already going as fast as it can!" Sean shouted back.

"Brace for impact!" Will shouted moments before the lead SUV slammed into the rear of the van, and shattered the rear window. He gripped the weapons rack in an attempt to steady himself while the van swerved back and forth from Sean's attempts to regain control of the vehicle.

"I suggest that we change tactics since we obviously can't out run them." Christophe shouted from the front seat.

"I agree." Will answered. "Get off at the next exit, Sean. We'll try to lose them in the city streets."

"Sounds like a plan." Sean acknowledged and then cut the van across the right two lanes of traffic and into the exit lane.

Christophe turned to face Jeremie and Aelita. "I want the two of you to cutoff all means of communication for our pursuers."

Jeremie and Aelita turned to face each other and then with out speaking they both unbuckled their restraints and climbed into the back of the van. Christophe shifted his focus back to the road in front of him and reached for the radio on the dashboard.

* * *

"Car 153 come in. Come in 153."

"This is car 153. Officer Le Marque speaking."

"We have a government vehicle under hostile pursuit. Vehicles are northbound on Avenue du Général Leclerc. We have been ordered to render assistance. Be advised that the occupants of all vehicles involved are heavily armed. The government vehicle is on channel 27."

"Affirmative. Will intercept and assist." Clement replaced the mic, and started the engine.

"Why can't we have a quiet morning for once. Every single day for the past week there's been something happening." His partner commented.

"Yeah, but at least this should be interesting, Marc."

* * *

"Alright here's our chance. I want you to pin them against one of those trees."

"Yes, sir." The driver responded to Mathis's order and positioned the SUV on the left side of the van's rear fender. The driver waited until the van started it's turn and then floored the accelerator forcing the van to spin ninety degrees. The SUV then rammed into the side of the van and plowed it into a tree on the far side of the intersection. The men filed out of the vehicles and began cautiously approaching the van. The sound of approaching sirens to their right drew their attention, and the men opened fire on the approaching police car. The car came to a stop and the two officers bailed out and ran for cover behind the vehicles parked along the side of the street. Four of the men broke formation and took up positions to keep the officers pinned down while the rest of the group grabbed the van's passengers. The sound of more police sirens approaching reached Mathis's ears and he turned to his men.

"We better make this quick."

* * *

Jeremie glanced around him, and reached for Aelita.

"Aelita? Aelita!" His heart sank when she didn't respond, and he quickly checked for her pulse. When he felt a strong pulse he relaxed slightly and lifted her up into his arms. He carried her towards the back doors of the van, and kicked the door open. He pushed his pack out of the door and onto the ground and then ducked to his left behind the vehicle. He set Aelita down and then grabbed his bag. Frantically he dug through the bag and found the medical kit, he tossed the kit on the ground and began searching for the bottle of Esmolol. He knew he didn't have much time but this might buy Aelita a chance to escape. Finding the bottle, he grabbed a syringe and filled it to the amount that he had scribbled on the bottle in case he ever needed to do this. He injected the drug into Aelita's arm and monitored Aelita's heart rate as it gradually slowed to twelve beats per minute. He grabbed a permanent marker and rolled up Aelita's sleeve. He quickly wrote out "Esmolol 9:03 AM" and then replaced her sleeve. He repacked the medical kit and stuffed it back into his bag. After shoving the pack under the van, he turned and grabbed his rifle.

"Freeze!"

Jeremie turned to face the man who had issued the order. The man looked to his left.

"I have them."

Jeremie grunted as another man walked up behind him and slammed him onto the ground. Another soldier walked over to Aelita and checked her pulse.

"The girl is dead."

"Leave her. We have to go."

The soldier nodded and walked over to handcuff Jeremie. The men lifted Jeremie to his feet and dragged him towards one of the black SUVs. As they approached Jeremie heard two police cars pull up off to his right. He watched helplessly as one of the soldiers aimed an RPG at the two cars while the officers abandoned the vehicles and scrambled to safety.

* * *

"Unit 12, come in."

"This is unit 12."

William turned to look at the two police officers standing in the aisle.

"We have an urgent situation developing out here. Exit the train at the Denfert Rochereau station. We have officers down."

"Understood."

William watched as the two men moved towards the door in anticipation of the train stopping. He heard more indistinct radio chatter and then a single word that he recognized: "Aelita". The doors opened and the two officers exited the train. William stood up and followed the two officers outside of the station towards the sounds of gunfire. He turned a corner and the overwhelming scene forced him to stop dead in his tracks. A black van was wrapped around a tree, two police cars were on fire and he could see muzzle flashes from dozens of assault rifles firing from the opposite side of the street. He looked back to the van and noticed a girl with pink hair lying face up on the side walk next to an assault rifle. Will ducked behind the building and pulled out his phone. While the phone was ringing he looked up and saw a news helicopter circling the area. He heard the other person say hello and he started recounting everything that was happening.

* * *

Odd felt his phone vibrating and retrieved it from his pocket.

"Hello?" Odd whispered.

"Odd, ... ... ... important." Came the almost indistinguishable response.

"William? I can barely hear you. Are you at a movie or or something?"

"No, there's ... shooting. There's ... ... lying ... down. She ... dead. I think it's Aelita."

"I can hear you now. What did you say about Aelita?"

"There was a girl lying on the ground, and she looked dead... Odd... I think it was Aelita."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Look... If you don't believe me, turn on the news. There's a channel four news chopper circling the area." The line went silent as William ended the call.

"Will? Will?!" Odd returned his phone to his pocket and realized that at some point he had stood up and the entire class was now starting at him.

"Care to explain, Odd?" Mrs. Hertz asked him.

"Will said that there is something on the news about Aelita. I could barely hear him. It sounded like he was in the middle of a war zone."

"Very funny, Odd. Now give me your phone and sit down."

"It wasn't a joke. Will said... He said that Aelita might be dead..."

"Odd, maybe you should..."

Jim slammed the door to the room open.

"Della Robbia, Stern, come with me."

Mrs. Hertz turned to face Jim.

"What's wrong Jim?"

"We have some news about his cousin." Jim replied as he shut the door after Odd and Ulrich had left the room.


	10. Love and Loss

**Chapter 10: Love and Loss**

"Come in and close the door, Odd."

Odd gulped and looked around the office. He noted the two police officers, and his face paled. The principal looked past him at Jim and nodded. Odd felt himself being shoved forward, and heard the sound of the door clicking shut.

"Sit down." Mr. Delmas gestured to the empty chair in front of him.

He nodded weakly and moved towards the chair. As he was sitting down, he caught movement off to his left and turned to see that one of the police officers was now standing between him and the door.

"I'll get to the point." The principal started. "You lied to the police, and you lied to me."

Odd watched as the principal's serene facade faded into a frown.

"You and Miss Stones told me that she was your cousin. When we couldn't reach her parents to inform them of their daughter's disappearance, I called your parents. They are on their way here as we speak. You don't have any cousins from Canada, Odd, and none of your relatives have pink hair. You helped her register here under a false identity, that makes you an accomplice to fraud."

"But..."

"If I were you, I wouldn't say anything until your parents get here." The police officer to Odd's right cut in. "As Mr. Delmas was saying, you knowingly helped a girl register here as a boarder under the false pretense of her being your cousin. Maybe you were just helping out a friend, but when we questioned you about her disappearance, that, kid, was lying during the course of an investigation. You mislead us, and now your friend is dead. Unless you have a extremely good and valid explanation for your deceit, you will be facing some very serious charges."

"You don't honestly think that I had something to do with her disappearance?"

"Let me sum it up for you. You backed up her false identity in front of the principal and your friends. You lied to us about the events surrounding her disappearance. Now she turns up dead in the middle of a massive fire fight. There is something that you are hiding, and when you're parents get here, we are going to find out what it is."

"Wait... She's dead?"

"As a door nail."

Odd attempted to fight the tears that were forming.

"You seem surprised. You shouldn't be. It's a fairly well known fact that the majority of people who aren't found after 48 hours turn up dead. The only surprising part in this entire affair is how she resurfaced."

Odd gave up trying to fight the tears and looked up at the man who was now standing in front of him. "How?"

"She was dragged out of a van by the boy whom you and your friends told us was her boyfriend. The men chasing the vehicle that she was traveling in left her laying on the sidewalk. The preliminary report states that she was probably killed when the van impacted a tree."

"You said that Jeremie was with her. What happened to him?"

"We don't know. We lost track of the vehicles that were carrying him and the other passengers." The officer paused and moved behind Odd. "Did Aelita tell you to lie about her identity, or was it someone-else?"

Odd hesitated.

"Don't worry, I'm certain she won't mind. She is dead after all." The officer sneered at Odd.

Odd suppressed his sudden urged to swing at the police officer. "Yeah, and since she is dead, I'm also sure that she won't mind if I take my time answering your questions."

Exactly what happened next, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that at one moment he was seated in his chair staring at the floor and the next the officer had him pinned up against the wall by his shirt collar.

"A girl is dead, and, yet, you find this entire affair amusing." The officer released the grip that he had on Odd's shirt and let the boy crumple to the floor. "I'm certain that your parents raised you better than that." The man scoffed at Odd, and turned to face his fellow officer. "We'll question him some more when his parents get here. Hopefully he'll be more willing to co-operate when we return." The two men exited the room, and Odd staggered back to the chair.

"Are you are alright?"

Odd looked up at the man sitting behind the desk. "What?"

"Are you hurt? Do I need to get the nurse?"

"No. I'll just walk it off."

The principal sighed and turned to his computer screen. Odd's gaze drifted around the room, slowly shifting from one object to another until it finally settled on the window behind Mr. Delmas.

"Don't even consider it."

Odd blinked and turned his attention to the man before him. "Consider what?"

"I saw that look on your face, and I'm warning you now. Trying to get out of that window is not an option for you."

"I wasn't..."

"Don't give me that. You were weighing your options, and, trust me, at this point in time, running is not what you want to do." Mr. Delmas finished his lecture and turned back to the computer screen.

* * *

"Aelita?"

The girl groaned and began stirring.

"Wake up, Aelita."

Aelita stopped and began to slowly open her eyes, but she quickly shut them and grabbed her head in pain. Still holding her head, she lowered her right arm and tried to raise herself into a sitting position. Halfway through her rise she yelped in pain and collapsed back to the sidewalk. She felt a hand come to rest gently on her shoulder, and she opened her eyes to look at the person attending to her.

"Take it easy there. You have two broken ribs and a slight concussion. My partner is getting a stretcher."

Aelita leaned her head back against the cold ground and let out a low groan. "It doesn't feel slight. Who are you?"

"My name is Francine. I'm a paramedic for the local hospital."

Aelita turned to face the woman, and smiled. "Thanks for helping me."

She shrugged it off and flashed a smile back. "What can I say? It's my job."

Aelita nodded and continued. "How long was I out?"

"Well since I don't know when you went unconscious, I can't give you an answer. But I arrived here about thirty minutes after the van that you were in," The woman motioned behind her, "ran into the tree, and I've been here for about five minutes."

"How did you know my name?"

"One of the police officers told me your name." The woman's smile faded, and her expression became serious. "That was a dangerous stunt you pulled."

"Stunt? What are you talking about?"

"You used a beta-blocker to trick those men into believing that you were dead."

A perplexed look played across Aelita's face and the paramedic's mood softened.

"You didn't do it. Did you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

The woman grabbed Aelita's arm and rolled back the sleeve. She gently moved the girl's arm so that Aelita could read the message without moving her head. When Aelita saw the note and recognized the hand writing, she couldn't decide if she should feel grateful or betrayed.

"I'll have to remember to slap him after I thank him." Aelita mumbled under her breath.

"Who is 'he'?" The paramedic asked her. Aelita blushed slightly when she realized the woman had heard what she said.

"His name is Jeremie. He was in the van with me. Do you know where he is?"

Francine shifted uncomfortably, and forced a smile. "I don't know, but I can ask one of the police officers..."

"The men that attacked us took him away. Didn't they?"

Francine looked down and nodded slightly.

"What about the others? What happened to them? Where's Christophe? Where's my mom?"

Francine continued to stare at the ground and simply shook her head. "You are the only one that they left behind."

Aelita turned her head to the side as she felt tears forming in her eyes. As she stared off under the van, she noticed that a bag was partially hidden behind the rear tire. She moved her arm slowly to avoid aggravating her injuries and pointed at the pack. "Can you please hand me that bag?"

Francine glanced at the bag, and then warily behind her at the group of GIPN officers who appeared to be in the middle of heated discussion with some members of the RAID team. She turned back to Aelita, and shook her head. "That would depend on what is in that bag."

Aelita sighed, and turned her head so she could see Francine. "I need to make phone call, and I need the PDA that is in the bag."

"Here you can just use my cellphone." Francine reached for her phone, but Aelita motioned for her to stop.

"Cell phones are no good, they'll be listening. I have to use that PDA, or..." Aelita glanced up as Francine's partner entered her vision pushing a stretcher, and she lowered her voice so that only Francine could hear her. "you have to do all the talking."

Francine motioned for the other paramedic to help her lift Aelita onto the stretcher, and then turned her attention to Aelita. "Give me one good reason to trust you."

Aelita clenched her teeth when pain shot through her side as the two paramedics lifted her onto the stretcher. After they set her down, Francine glanced at the man.

"I'll go inform the police that she is awake." Francine turned to leave, but Aelita caught her arm.

"You don't have to trust me. Just bring me the PDA, and I can get you all the proof that you will ever need."

* * *

Jacques sighed and tossed the newspaper onto the table in front of him. He perked up when the sound of footfalls reached his ears, and he turned to face the doorway as an aid escorted a man and a woman into the room. Jacques rose to his feet and the aid began the introductions.

"Mr. President, this is Mr. and Mrs. Belpois. They are the parents of Jeremie Belpois."

"It's an honor to meet you, sir." Michael extended his hand.

"Thank you. Please, have a seat." Jacques gestured towards two empty chairs on the opposite side of the table. "Thank you, Sophie. Do you have any update on when Christophe will be back?"

"I'm sorry, sir. I haven't been able to reach him, and no-one on the staff knows where he is."

"Let me know if you hear anything."

"Yes, sir." Sophie nodded and closed the door as she exited the room.

Jacques turned to face the two people across from him. "Do either you of know why Christophe wanted to talk with us?"

Michael and Marie shared an uneasy glance with each other, and then turned back to Jacques. "He didn't tell you?" Micheal questioned the man before him.

"Not much. Just that he needed to talk to me about some black ops program that has overstepped its bounds. He also mentioned about the two missing students being wrapped in the entire situation. Where are Aelita's guardians?"

"Aelita's mother was supposed arrive with Christophe." Marie responded.

"I see. So how exactly did your son manage to get involved in this?"

"During his freshman year at Kadic, Jeremie stumbled upon an abandoned factory near his school." Michael started. "He began sneaking out of the school at night to scrounge around the factory for anything that he could use for his robotics hobby. One night he found a room in the factory that seemed out of place."

* * *

"You have reached Hôtel Matignon, residence of the Prime Minister of France, how may I assist you?"

"Sophie? I need you to put me through to the President. He should be in the Prime Minister's office."

Sophie stopped her typing and turned to look at the caller ID. "I'm sorry who is this, and how do you know that information?"

"This is Aelita Stones. Christophe told me that he had arranged a meeting with the President for this morning. I have an important message for the President that explains why Christophe is not present at the meeting. Can you please put me through?"

"I'm sorry dear, but I can't put you through. Policy states that I can only let..."

"Christophe, Alex, Sean, and Will have all been abducted. I think that is more than enough reason to let me talk to the President."

Sophie gawked at the phone in disbelief. "Give me a very good reason to believe you."

"The first time that you brought Christophe coffee, you were so nervous that you tipped over the cup when you tried to pour him some. It took Christophe five minutes to calm you down and to convince you that he was not upset with you for ruining his shirt."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Sophie."

* * *

"They later discovered that her father had once worked for a government program called 'Project Carthage'. Carthage was a system designed to..." Micheal paused as he heard a person knock on the door.

Jacques turned to face the door. "Yes?"

They all watched as Sophie entered the room with a worried expression on her face. "There is a call for you on line four."

"Who is it?"

"Aelita Stones, the missing girl. She says that she has some important information about Christophe."

"Thank you, Sophie."

Sophie nodded her head, and quietly shut doors as she left the room. The president walked over to the desk and lifted the handset. He selected the flashing button next to the label that read "External Line 4".

"Hello?"

"Hello, sir. My name is Aelita. Christophe has been abducted, and I need you to do me a small favor."

"Let's start with you giving me an explanation of what is really going on."

"Sir?"

"Tell me what Project Carthage is."

"It would be better if I showed you in person."

Jacques gaze towards the window narrowed slightly. "Very well, where should we meet you?"

"Meet me at the abandoned Renault Factory near Kadic Academy. Now can you please do me favor and tell these paramedics to escort me there?"

"Alright, put them on." The sounds of the phone trading hands reached his ears and he waited for the person on the other end to begin.

"Mr. President?"

"Is the person with whom I just spoke a threat to your personal safety?"

"No, sir. I don't believe she is."

"Would you mind escorting her to the abandoned Renault Factory?"

"Not at all, sir."

"Thank you. I will meet you there." The man returned the handset to its cradle, and turned to face his body guards. "Get the team together, we're making a house call." The men nodded, and the agent closest to the door exited the room to make preparations. He then turned to the two civilians before him. "Grab your things, we're leaving."

* * *

Francine heard the click of the other person ending the call and handed the PDA back to Aelita. "I'll go tell the officers that we are leaving."

"Do they know that I'm alive?"

Francine stopped and turned back to face Aelita. "No, we haven't told them yet. Why?"

"Trust me. It's better for now if they think that I'm dead."

Francine watched as her partner gave her an uneasy look. Francine nodded her head, and resumed her walk towards the officers. "I hope you're good at playing dead."

Aelita closed her eyes as Francine's partner covered her and the stretcher with a blanket.

* * *

Jeremie sat silently in the middle of the SUV. His hands absentmindedly traced the edges of his restraints as he listened to the pieces of the conversation that was occurring between the leader of the assault team and their commander who was sitting safely behind a desk.

"We have a complication."

"No, she's dead, but that is not the problem."

"I know that, but it's too late to do anything about it."

"Well what do you want me to do about it?"

"Are you certain that is wise? What if they know enough to find us?"

"Oh. Okay. Now I see where you are going."

"Alright I'll instruct my men to act accordingly. What about the boy?"

"Are you certain that will work?"

"Good point. I'll meet you there."

Jeremie listened as the man ended the call and turned in seat to face him.

"It looks like you won't be seeing anyone that you know for a very long time." The man sneered at Jeremie and then returned to watching the traffic around the vehicle.

"What about the others?"

The man in front of Jeremie laughed slightly. "They are going to be released." The man retrieved the wireless handset from the dashboard. "Teams two and three. Deposit the prisoners at way point alpha, and then proceed to the secondary rendezvous point." The garbled responses could be heard. "Be sure to make it quick." The man replaced the handset and returned to surveying the traffic around the SUV. Jeremie looked up as he saw two black SUVs speed past them in the left lane, and disappear into the traffic in front of them.

* * *

Jacques finished examining the building that loomed before him and turned to face the two people standing behind him. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"No, sir. This is the place." The woman responded.

"All clear!"

The three looked up as a group of twenty men exited the factory equipped with full tactical gear. The leader of the group stopped before Jacques offered a salute. Jacques answered the salute and the man began his situation report.

"We have searched the entire building, and have found no threats to your safety. We have sixty men stationed at strategic points throughout the building and at various entrances to the facility. There are ten snipers concealed on the roof." The man gestured towards the factory roof. "We have an additional twenty men on continuous foot patrol of the entire facility, and we have tapped into the video surveillance system of the building." The man presented a laptop that displayed over twenty video windows, and then returned the computer to his side.

"Excellent work, major. Have your remaining men setup a perimeter just inside of the tree line, and then meet me inside."

"Yes, sir." The man saluted Jacques, and then motioned for his men to follow him into the trees.

Jacques turned to the two civilians behind him. "Show me where..." Jacques paused as the sound of vehicle approaching reached his ears. He turned and watched an ambulance slow to a stop at the end of the bridge. The driver and passenger exited the vehicle and walked to the rear of the van. They opened the doors and helped a third individual with pink hair out of the back, and then began walking towards Jacques.

"Freeze!"

The three stopped and lifted their hands as a team of agents swarmed them from out of what appeared to be thin air. After a few moments the agents returned to their stations, and the three people resumed their walk towards Jacques. The girl with pink hair stopped a few steps away from Jacques and the two paramedics stood slightly behind her.

"You must be Aelita."

Aelita simply nodded.

"Mind showing me what is so important?"

"Not at all. It's this way." Aelita motioned for everyone to follow her. The two paramedics began to follow as well, but Jacques stopped them. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe that the two of you have clearance to view this area."

"It's alright Jacques, they are already involved." Aelita stated as she walked over. "But one of you should move the ambulance inside the factory to avoid drawing unwanted attention."

Francine turned to face her partner. "You loose." Her partner muttered something under his breath, and proceeded towards the van.

"Alright, let's go."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Jeremie asked the occupants of the van.

The commander turned in his seat and motioned at one of the agents. "Don't worry, you'll understand when we get there."

Jeremy flinched as he felt needle a pierce his skin. He tried to grab his assailant but his attempts became half-hearted as the world around him became blurry and faded into darkness.

* * *

Two black SUVs hurtled to a stop at the end of a bridge. Men swiftly exited the vehicle and dragged four men and a woman with pink hair from the vehicles. The soldiers cut the ties binding the individuals' hands and feet, and then began re-entering the vehicles. One the soldiers stopped and looked intently at the factory at the end of the bridge. His eyes widened, and he grabbed the soldier next to him and pointed at something in the building's entrance. The second soldier followed the other's gaze and then nodded in recognition. The two men then entered the vehicle, and the SUVs departed just as quickly as they had come. Once the vehicles were out of site, the prisoners rose to their feet and watched as men exited the factory and the nearby grove of trees.

* * *

"Team leader two requesting to speak with team leader."

Mathis lifted the handset off the dashboard of SUV and spoke. "This is team leader. Continue."

"Sir, we have a situation. The girl is still alive."

"What?!"

"I repeat Aelita Schaeffer is still alive. She was at the factory when we released the prisoners."

"Why didn't you neutralize or apprehend her?"

"She wasn't alone sir. There was a large military presence at the factory."

"Shit. Could you tell what they were?"

"They appeared to be a mix of special ops and secret service."

"Alright, we'll deal with that later. For now just meet us back at base."

"Affirmative."

Mathis replaced the handset and turned to check on the unconscious boy. Satisfied that the prisoner was asleep he turned back to the road and took out his satellite phone.

"Yes?"

"It's Mathis. We have a situation."

"I know I just saw the satellite feeds."

"I recommend that we level the entire building, sir."

"What about the people in the building?"

"Acceptable losses."

"Very well. I'll order the strike. Gregoire out."

Mathis returned the phone to his bag, and stared at the trees flying past him on the roadside. Hopefully the current occupants of the factory would be aware of the missile strike and vacate the factory in time. If they couldn't, he could live with that as well.

* * *

"Mom!"

Antea smiled as Aelita leaped through the opening elevator doors and embraced her in hug.

"It's so good to see that you are alright." Antea said as she loosened her embrace and looked at her daughter. Aelita smiled back and then glanced at the other occupants of the lift.

"Where is Jeremie." Aelita asked as her smile faded.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. He wasn't with us."

Aelita nodded sadly and walked back into the room. She gestured towards the Belpois. "These are Jeremie's parents," The two waved slightly, and Aelita pointed to Jacques. "and this is the President."

Jacques quietly nodded in acknowledgment. After Aelita was finished speaking, Jacques moved over to Christophe.

"Late as usual." Jacques stated as a grin spread across his face.

"Yes, and as usual it's not my fault." Christophe responded with a smile as he shook Jacques hand.

"Well now that all of you are here, would someone mind filling me in?"

"We'll discuss this on LYOKO. I'll go there first, and run the virtualization process from the tower..."

"Absolutely not!" The occupants of the room all turned to face the pink haired woman. "The scanners are not safe for use on humans. They never were, and they never will be. Look at what happened to me." Antea pointed at her hair. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Mom, that was a long time ago. The scanners have been upgraded and repaired then since then. There is nothing to worry about. There have been thousands of successful runs, and I've been virtualized hundreds of times."

Antea's expression fell. "You've what? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"Mom, I'm telling you the truth. There is nothing to worry about..."

"Except for the thousands of errors that could occur."

"Antea, we've been there as well." Micheal and Marie stepped over and stood next to Aelita.

"But..."

"If you want I can send someone else first."

"Fine, but I still object."

"Very well. Any volunteers?"

"We'll go." Marie offered.

"Alright. You know the drill."

The two began descending the ladder as Aelita situated herself at the computer console. Aelita placed on the headset and began entering commands into a window on the screen. "Are you ready?" "Okay I'll start the process." Aelita typed a few more commands and muttered, "Virtualization." She brought up a new window on the screen and the faces of Jeremie's parent's greeted the room.

"We made it. You can come now Aelita."

"Alright." Aelita entered a few more commands and window with a countdown appeared on the screen. She placed the headset on the keyboard, and proceeded to the ladder. Her mom followed shortly after her and moved to stand between her and the scanner.

"Is there any way I can convince you not to go?"

"No there isn't." Aelita walked past her mom and stood in the scanner. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." Antea watched as the scanner doors closed around her only child and her heart sank. She watched worriedly as the scanner ran through it's cycle. The cycle completed without incident, and Antea relaxed slightly. She turned to climb the ladder back to the computer lab but stopped dead in her tracks as all to familiar alarm blared in her ears. She turned on her heals and rushed over to Aelita's scanner. The doors hissed open and an unconscious Aelita fell out of the scanner into her arms. Antea scooped up her daughter and rushed into the elevator. She set Aelita down on the floor and waited for the doors to open. The door slid back to show everyone staring intently at the computer screen.

"You two!" Antea pointed at the two paramedics. "Make sure that she is okay." The two scrambled over to Aelita's side as Antea ran to the computer chair. Her face paled as she read through the hundreds windows with red exclamation points. "Damn it." Antea slammed her fist into the arm rest of the chair. "This is exactly what I was worried about." She began typing furiously as one of the paramedics walked over to Antea.

"She seems fine, and her injuries have been healed." The man informed Antea. She didn't even glance up from the screen as she whispered her response.

"Check her ears."

The man looked thoroughly confused, but turned to check anyway. He informed his partner who lifted Aelita's hair out of the way. The two jumped back slightly at what they saw, and cautiously re-examined the girl's ears to make certain that they were indeed seeing what they thought they were seeing. "Why are her ears pointed?" Francine asked. The other people in the room with the exception of Antea, who was still typing away furiously at the computer terminal, turned to face the two paramedics with perplexed expressions on their faces. Alex was the first to the respond.

"What?"

"Antea, why are your daughter's ears pointed?" Francine repeated.

"Transcoding error." Was the only reply Antea made as she continued typing.

Irritated by the lack of explanation, Francine continued. "For those of us who don't know anything about what is happening, could you please explain the situation in a little more detail."

"Every time a person is virtualized in the scanners random errors occur when the data is stored in the supercomputer's memory. Normally these errors are not significant since they occur in molecules with relatively short biological lifespans. The body simply fixes these errors over time. If the error occurs when the computer is copying over the subject's DNA, the error is not so readily fixed. Since Aelita has been virtualized so many times the errors in the DNA of her cells accumulated to a point where the computer attempted to fix the errors before they could cause any physical harm. The computer replaced the corrupt genes with new genes. Fortunately, the only error only affected the shape of her ears, but it could have been much worse. The problem is that since the computer replaced the corrupted genes in every cell of her body, the affects are hereditary."

Francine hung her head in realization.

"Is there any way to reverse it?" Micheal asked from his window on the computer screen.

"I believe there is, but it will take time."

Micheal nodded in understanding. He opened his mouth to say something but was cutoff by a second alarm sounding. Everyone turned their attention to Antea.

"What's happening?" Christophe asked.

"I don't know. Let me check... Oh no." Antea's face paled. "We have to leave now! There is a missile bearing down on the factory as we speak."

"I'll call in help..." Christophe began, but Antea cut him off.

"Help won't get here in time. We only have two minutes to clear the building." Antea glanced at the two people currently stranded in the virtual world. "Do either of you know the code to rematerialize you?"

"Sorry, but Aelita and Jeremy are the only people who know it." Marie answered.

Antea nodded grimly and rushed over to Aelita.

"Aelita? Come on. It's time to wake up, sweetie." Antea pleaded as she shook her daughter in an attempt to wake her. "Please wake up. I need your help."

Aelita's eye lids fluttered, and she groaned. "But I don't wanna go to school, mommy." Aelita opened her eyes, and shot up fully awake. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later. Right now I need you to devirtualize Jeremie's parents."

Aelita nodded and walked over to the console as the sounds of vehicle engines starting came from above. Aelita looked at the screen and her eyes widened in panic. "I'll just run a 'return to the past'." she muttered under breath. After a few seconds the computer responded to her attempt with a flashing red exclamation point. "What do you mean, 'No'?" she shouted at the computer and began typing in the devirtualization codes. The process completed and Aelita began a second attempt at the return only to be greeted with the same response. Aelita double clicked on the error, and read the message. Suddenly realization dawned on her. There was another, more powerful supercomputer, and it was currently generating a field that was blocking the 'return to the past' function. She jumped out of the chair and joined the others in the elevator. They reached the main level and ran to the remaining vehicles. The paramedics ran for the ambulance but two of the agents grabbed them and shoved them in a SUV while shouting "There isn't anytime! Leave it!" The vehicles lurched forward as their drivers floored the accelerators, and the SUVs exited the factory. Aelita watched from her window as her ride hastily sped away to a safe distance from the factory. The SUV skid to a stop and the occupants piled out into the midday sun to await the destruction of the factory.

Aelita glanced at the time on her PDA, and shouted. "5 seconds."

The deafening roar of a solitary cruise missile pierced the warm breeze. The thundering noise ended as the missile plowed into the abandoned and unleashed a flash of heat and a pressure wave that assaulted the group of people who had been standing inside the building mere moments before. Christophe and Jacques turned as the major approached them. "All present, sir."

"Well at least everyone made it out." Christophe answered as he turned to gaze at the smoldering pile of ruble. "How the hell are we going to explain this?" He asked Jacques as he gestured towards the disaster site.

"How about calling it a 'joint task force anti-terrorist training exercise'." Jacques offered. Christophe nodded slightly as he pondered it.

"Sounds plausible." He turned to face Aelita, whom he noticed had tears forming in her eyes. "What's wrong Aelita?"

Aelita wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to face the Prime Minister. "That computer was the last chance I had to find Jeremie." She stated weakly. Aelita felt someone place their hands on her shoulders, and she turned to embrace her mother.

"Don't worry, Aelita. We'll find him. We'll find him." Antea whispered as she held her daughter.

* * *

Jeremie sharply opened his eyes and swatted away the hand holding the ammonia capsules under his nose. The man retracted his hand, tossed the paper packet into the waste basket, and walked to the opposite side of the table. Jeremie glanced at the man's face but couldn't place him, and he didn't seem to match any of descriptions that Aelita had given him.

"My name... is of no consequence since you will not be seeing me again during the course of your stay here."

Jeremie looked at man the quizzically. "Where exactly are we?"

"Excellent question. I am standing in an interrogation room on earth, talking to a holographic projection of a fifteen year old boy. You..." The man paused for moment as if deep in thought. "You are both everywhere and nowhere. You exist as the sole inhabitant of a virtual world that is being simulated in thousands of quantum computers spread across the globe. You are trapped because a method for your materialization does not exist. You will be released as soon as you have devised such a method. Obviously you will not under any circumstance be released sooner, since doing so would be impossible. If your freedom is not enough incentive for you to complete your work, you should be aware that the life of your love interest is on the table in addition to your freedom. Every time that you refuse to co-operate you will be putting her life in danger. Am I clear?"

Jeremie solemnly nodded, and looked down.

"Good. Well that's it for now. I'll let you become acquainted with your new home."

Jeremie's vision went black, and he felt himself lying face down on what felt like grass. He opened his eyes and rose to his feet. The scene that greeted his eyes was awe inspiring. He was standing in the middle of a forest clearing with the full moon casting a soft glow around him. He immediately realized two terrifying facts: His surroundings appeared overwhelming real, and he could feel the cold night wind blowing across his skin.


	11. Author's Note

I realize that it has been a year since I last updated this story, and since many people have asked me to continue this story, I feel the need to at the very least inform you of what my plans are. I actually have chapter 11 partially written, but as I was reading over it, I felt that it was rushed and that it didn't take the story in the direction that I want it to go. So in the end I've decided to further postpone adding to the story, and instead take some time to clean up the chapters that I already have. Many people have pointed out flaws they have found or concerns they have with the story, and I feel that these issues need to be addressed before I continue the story. What this means for you, the reader, is that when I am done all of the current chapters will be full length (5000+ words each), and I will have included much more background information about the agencies, and individual characters involved in the plot line, as well as replacing any incidents that involve "writer's convenience" with resolutions that confront the challenges, enhance the plot, and allow the characters an opportunity to show some depth.

A copy of my preliminary draft of chapter 11 follows this message. I realize that this will probably not answer any questions, but rather leave you with more. Honestly, it is no where near complete, the time line in the chapter is jumbled, and ultimately some of the events are completely unrealistic even for this story. The final version of the chapter will, most likely, be almost completely different from this copy. Consider it a gesture of appreciation for all of you who have taken the time to read my story, and give me constructive criticism. As always, your thoughts and comments are most welcome.

* * *

**Chapter 11: **

Mr. Delmas glanced up from his computer screen, as the door to his office swung open to reveal a man in a black suit. Jean-Pierre watched as the man surveyed his office, until his gaze finally settled on the boy who was seated in the chair before him. Something about the man in the doorway bothered him; he couldn't figure out why, but for some reason the man made him uneasy.

"May I help you?"

The man shifted his gaze from Odd to the principal, and approached the desk.

"Yes, I am here to pickup Odd Della Robbia."

Jean-Pierre stared back at the man for a few seconds.

"The police have requested that he remain here in my office until further notice. May I ask why, you wish to move him?"

"I've been requested to bring him to meet his parents. Your presence is also requested." The man retrieved two envelopes from his jacket. He examined the contents of each and then tossed one on the desk and handed the other one to Odd. "The police are no longer in charge of the investigation. Please follow me." The man turned and walked towards the door.

Odd and the principal stood up to follow. Odd looked at the man and asked, "What is your name?"

The man paused in the door and turned to face Odd. "You may call me Will."

As they followed Will across the courtyard towards the trees, Odd cast a final glance at the school and noticed a group of men packing boxes into a cargo van. Curious about what the men were doing, he turned to Will.

"What are they doing?"

Will stopped walking and turned to look for the people to whom Odd was referring. Upon seeing the the van and the men who were loading it. He turned to face Odd. "Oh, them?"

Odd nodded. "Yes, them."

"They're just moving Aelita's belongings. I'm sure that Mr. Delmas here will be glad to have the available room back. Now come on, or we'll be late." Will stated as he turned and walked into the trees. Odd exchanged a sideways glance with Jean-Pierre and the two followed their guide into the trees. A clearing with a man hole in the center came into view and Odd paused. Jean noticed this and stopped to take in their surroundings. Confused he turned to face Will who was sliding the man hole cover open.

"Where exactly are are you taking us?"

"I'll explain when we get there. You want answers, and you'll get them soon enough. If you can't wait, ask Odd. He knows where we're going." With that, Will slid into the sewers, and disappeared from sight. Mr. Delmas turned to find Odd looking at the ground, wearing an expression of shame at being caught.

"What did he mean by that, Odd?"

Odd brushed the question aside and walked towards the manhole. "It's a long story, and I don't want to talk about it." Odd said as he descended the ladder. When he reached the bottom he began following Will. A few seconds later he heard footsteps behind him, and turned see Mr. Delmas following behind them. As they continued the walk in silence, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the envelope that Will had given him earlier. Noticing that it had no markings on it, he opened the envelope and removed the contents. The top page was a letter of apology and a statement that the police were dropping all charges against him and that the investigation of his involvement in the disappearance of Aelita had concluded. He stuffed the letter back in the envelope and moved onto the second document. Odd stopped in his tracks and stared in disbelief at the sheet of paper he held in his hands.

"What the hell is this?!" Odd shouted as he waved the paper in Will's face.

Will grabbed Odd's wrist and moved the document out of his face. "It is exactly what it says it is."

"But I haven't done half of these things!"

"No-one ever said that you _did_."

"What do you mean?"

"Read it again, Odd. It isn't just for what you've done in the past, it also includes what you _will_ do."

"Why would I even want to do any of this?"

"It's not a question of what you want. This isn't a game. Lives are at stake, and they always were. We know about LYOKO. You and your friends risked the lives of every person on this planet, you destroyed the property of several countries, and even disrupted a few UN joint missions. You have no idea how much the piece of paper that you hold in your hands has cost this country, and you never will. If I were in your position, I would show a little more gratitude for the generosity that you've been shown. After all, that pardon can always be revoked, and in case you were wondering, an additional copy is stored at UN headquarters." Will turned and resumed walking down the maintenance walkway. "Now hurry up. You've made us late."

Odd sighed and followed behind the man in front of him.

"Why did they have to go to my school?" Jean thought to himself as he followed the two people in front of him.

"When these excited electrons collapse back into a stable orbit they release their excess energy in the form of light or electromagnetic waves. Since each element has a distinct stable electron orbital configuration, individual elements may be uniquely identified by their spectral patterns in much the same way that finger prints may be used to uniquely identify people. Now, who can tell me..." Mrs. Hertz paused in her lecture as the door to classroom opened, and a man in a black suit entered. "May I help you?"

The man surveyed the room, and quickly found his target. "No, thank you. I've already found him." The man proceeded down the center aisle until he was standing beside a boy with brown hair and a green shirt.

"Ulrich Stern?"

"Yes?"

The man held out an envelope for Ulrich. When Ulrich took it, the man turned and began walking towards the door. "Come with me."

Ulrich cast a curios at Mrs. Hertz, who shrugged in response. Ulrich reluctantly stood and followed the man out of the room. Once the door closed behind them, Mrs. Hertz returned her attention to the class. "Where were we? Oh, yes. Who can tell me the stable electron configuration for Neon?"

Ulrich closed the door behind him and walked down the hall slightly behind the agent.

"Where are we going?"

"To meet some people, I'm sure you'll see some familiar faces there, but before we go, I have one more person to pickup. By the way, you can call me Sean."

"Sean, huh?" Ulrich asked as they exited the science building and moved towards the cafeteria. "Who exactly are you talking about?"

Sean stopped, and turned to Ulrich. "Wait here." Before Ulrich could answer, Sean had entered the cafeteria doors, and was looking around at the kids who were happily chatting away. Failing to locate his mark at one of the tables, he shifted his attention to the line of students who were waiting for their lunch. Spotting his target, Sean approached the Japanese girl with black hair.

"Are you Ishiyama Yumi?"

"That depends on who's asking." The girl stated as she examined the man in front of her.

Sean smirked and handed her an envelope. "Follow me." With out waiting for a response, Sean turned and exited the cafeteria.

Ulrich looked up from the message he was reading as he heard the sound of cafeteria door as it opened and closed. When he saw Sean approaching him alone, he stuffed the documents back in the envelope.

"Couldn't find him?"

"Don't worry. Your girlfriend will catch up."

"Wait... What? Why do you need Yumi?"

"Same reason that I need you."

"Hey wait!"

The two turned to face the swiftly approaching girl.

"Ulrich? What's going on?" Yumi asked as she waved the envelope. "How did they find out?"

"A little, pink elf told us." Sean replied.

"Wait... You know where..." Ulrich never finished his sentence.

"Don't say her name." Sean hissed in Ulrich's ear. "There are too many people around." Sean removed his hand from Ulrich's mouth, and released his hold on the boy. "It is imperative that we keep this information contained. Now follow me. We have a schedule to keep." Sean finished.

The man turned and walked off into the trees. The two teens glanced at each other uneasily and then followed Sean into trees. They had questions, and at the moment they simply wanted answers.

Jeremie paused in his walk, and glanced around his surroundings. The edge of the forest that he had first arrived in now lay several miles behind him across the burning sand. He had been walking for hours, and from what he could tell, he was the only person in that miserable world. It definitely was not LYOKO. He hadn't seen even the slightest sign that he could access any part of the system from his current location. He sighed and slumped to ground. "I wish I had a console or someway to access the system's files," he thought to himself. A soft blip reached his ears and he looked up from the sand beneath his feet to the terminal that had suddenly appeared before him. "Well at least I figured out that the computer can read my thoughts." He mused as he began sifting through the data on the screen. "If only there was some way I could get out of here..." He froze as the system displayed a map of the facility and highlighted the location of a room that housed what the system listed as a bidirectional planar quantum state scanner, and energy conversion unit. Intrigued he looked over the facility schematics. Committing the details to memory. "Too bad the materialization program doesn't work..." The screen interrupted his thought with a status window that indicated that the materialization program was indeed off-line, but that the scanner pattern buffers were operating at 100% capacity and that the system was standing by for commands. "Perhaps I should look into this later..."

Jeremie groaned and opened his eyes. Realizing that he was back in the interrogation room, he sat up a faced the man before him. Before he could ask the man any questions, his interrogator for the day began.

"I'm disappointed in you, Mr. Belpois. We've given a you day already and yet you have nothing to show for it. You haven't done a damn thing." The man turned away from Jeremie, and gazed at the mirror across the room from the boy. "Perhaps you've already forgotten our arrangement?" The man smirked as he watched Jeremie's hands clench into fists. "Or maybe you haven't, and you are simply useless. Whatever the case may be, I want you to understand one thing: If you do not perform the tasks that we assign you to complete, we will kill her, and you will die here alone, knowing that you were responsible for her death." The man dropped to his knees and placed a hand on his sidearm moments before the chair that Jeremie had previously occupied slammed into the space his reflection had occupied only a fraction of a second earlier. The man rose to his feet and looked at the boy. "Now. Now. There's no need for that..."

"If anything happens to her, I will destroy this entire facility, and you along with it."

"I'm just a messenger..."

"If I'm really just a hologram, why do have your hand on your weapon."

"What?"

"If I'm really a hologram, firing at me with your sidearm won't stop me. In fact, maybe you mislead me on that account as well. In which case the materialization program works, and you need something else. I guess that the only way that I'll know for certain is to see if I'm right."

"You wouldn't..."

"Hey it's your fault for not giving me the complete picture." Jeremie stated and advanced towards the man.

"Stay where you are." The man stated as he leveled the gun at the boy.

"Or what? You'll kill me. I doubt that." He stated and continued his approach. The man gave no answer, and tightened his grip on the weapon. A metallic click greeted Jeremie's ears, and he lunged for the man's hang gun. On reflex the man fired, but recoiled in fear when his shots had no affect. After a brief struggle, Jeremie overwhelmed the man and retrieved that gun. Gun in hand, He walked over to the door but found that it was locked. Undeterred, he turned to the one-way mirror and fired. The glass shattered, and Jeremie stepped through into an empty observation room. He located the door and exited into a corridor. Keeping the gun in hand, he proceeded quickly down the hall in search of the assembly area which the system schematics had indicated contained a scanner room.

"Welcome to the Hermitage," Will stated as he emerged from the sewers into the midday sun. He glanced at his watch, and continued towards the front steps, "and it appears that we are fashionably late." Will stopped at the door, and knocked.

"Why are you knocking on the door of an abandoned house?" Odd questioned the man. The sound of footsteps approaching the door reached the ears, followed by the clack of a lock sliding open.

"Who ever said it was empty?" Will countered, as the the door swung open to reveal a woman with pink hair and blue eyes.

"Oh. Hello, Will. I see you brought them." The woman turned to look at Odd. "You must be Odd."

Odd's face twisted into a look of confusion. "Um, do I know you?"

"No, this is the first time we've met." She turned back to Will. "Come inside. Christophe is waiting for you in the office."

At the sound of the sewer entrance opening, the four turned their gaze to look at the new arrivals.

"Yumi?! Ulrich?!" Odd called to his friends.

"Odd?!" The two called back. "What's going on?"

"Not now, we'll explain inside." Sean ordered as he led the two up the stairs. "We're wasting valuable time. Time your friend doesn't have." Without saying anymore Sean walked past them and entered the house. The three friends glanced at each other and then followed behind Will and Mr. Delmas as they entered the house.

"Three hundred meters then left... Three hundred meters..." Jeremie whipped around a corner and past some startled personnel. "Thirty-seven meters then right.... thirty seven meters..." Jeremie stopped in his tracks and examined the massive doors that stood before him. "This looks like the right place," he muttered and rushed inside as the doors slid open at his presence. He stopped as the doors slid shut behind him and surveyed the fifty thousand square meter room. "Now if I were going to..." Jeremie froze halfway through his thought and gawked at the far wall of the room. "It can't be real. That technology isn't viable yet, and the scanner technology definitely doesn't work on that large of a scale." He muttered as he approached the three meter high by thirty meter wide free standing frame that supported a faintly glowing sheet of plasma. He stopped in front of the structure and then examined it in detail as he slowly circled around it. A stack of papers lying next to a computer terminal attracted his attention, and he walked over. After a quick glance at the papers, he tossed it back on the desk. "Why is everything in English around here?" He wondered out loud as he walked back to scanner. "I wonder how it works." He mused and looked around the room. Spotting a nearby chair, he grabbed it and moved it over to what looked like the front of the device. "I wonder..." He grabbed the chair with both hands and flung it into the sheet of the plasma. He watched in disbelief as the chair disappeared from sight while it sailed through the scanner. "Well that's different..." Jeremie never got to finish the thought, as a klaxon started up, and an announcement came over the PA system.

"Unauthorized gateway usage on level 4. All available security personnel please proceed to room A4379."

He didn't have to understand English to realize that he was out of time. The room number at the end of the message had told him all he needed to know. He turned and began running towards the door adjacent to the computer terminal. Just as he was reaching out to grab the handle, he watched in horror as his hands disintegrated and the rest of his body quickly followed until his vision was swallowed by darkness.

"Since then we've been trying to locate Jeremie but we haven't been successful." Aelita stopped and turned away from her friends, to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. Christophe stood and continued the presentation.

"This is where the three of you come into the picture. Since you all have previous knowledge of this otherwise classified material, you along with a team assembled by the UN security council will be assisting Aelita in her search. You will be visiting all of the facilities that are owned, operated, and/or utilized by all of the governments and corporations involved in the Initiative for Point-to-Point Over Ethernet Transport, more commonly referred to as PPOET. The are dozens of research facilities and outposts scattered across various countries and continents. In addition to searching for your friend, you will be conducting a complete search and examination of every facility on this list. You will report your findings directly to the members of the UN security council after every trip, and you will be required to answer any and all questions they may have. At each facility you will have unrestricted access. If anyone attempts to convince you otherwise or denies you access, your team is authorized to use any means necessary to obtain entrance to the restricted areas. All of the agencies and companies involved have been informed of this as well. The travel arrangements and the itinerary are still being finalized. In the meantime you will all continue to attend school at Kadic, and you will be informed when the mission is prepared to start. You are not to discuss any of this information with anyone outside of this room who is not a member of the team or a member of the UN security council. Mr. Delmas's involvement in this matter ends here. Any questions?"

Christophe finished and surveyed the expressions on the faces of the teens. Odd took the opportunity and raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"How did you convince the UN to do this?"

"I didn't. They convinced themselves. I had to give them every piece of classified information that we had on Project Carthage along with all of our joint research on PPOET. After they were done reading through it all, they decided that their respective countries all stood to gain more from this than ours. The PPOET charter also stated that the research facilities would be open to periodic UN inspection. They didn't have much choice, but I didn't expect them to give your team the authority that they did. I came away with the feeling that they've had suspicions about PPOET for some time now."

Odd nodded absentmindedly and looked down at his feet. Yumi took her chance and spoke up.

"What about Aelita?"

"Her alias 'Aelita Stones' is dead. Aelita has been issued an amended birth certificate, and she is now known as Aelita Schaeffer once again. She is now legally fifteen years old. Anyone else have any questions?"

Christophe glanced around the room.

"Alright, then I'll be on my way. Aelita is in charge now, and you are to follow her orders."

Christophe turned and exited the room with Will and Sean a short distance behind him. Jean-Pierre rose to his feet as well.

"I'll see you all at the school. Don't be late for your classes."

With that he left through the same door that the other men had taken. Aelita turned to face her friends. After a brief glance towards the door, she turned and walked towards it.

"Come on, we're going to be late." Aelita murmured softly as she disappeared from view. After sharing a confused glance with each other, her friends followed her towards the front door.


End file.
